Dispatches have brought us yet another investigative documentary that will certainly have tongues wagging and NHS chief executives sweating up and down the country.
Ken Rashid, Harry Pinner and Annie Walters all agreed to be filmed to show the reality of dying in the UK today, all from very different illnesses in different environments but all experiencing inadequate care from the NHS. Naturally, I would approach something like this with caution, for being overly biased and emotive. These are but 3 cases in the hundreds of thousands who die each year, however, the sheer magnitude of their plight for a comfortable death shows us a scarier side to death than we might ever have imagined.
It’s difficult to say which part was the most difficult to watch. It is no doubt moving when Lynn Pinner is affectionately cooing love and affection for her emaciated husband Harry, who’s emphysema is slowly and painfully killing him. Harry, like some people, elected to die at home rather than live out his final moments in a sterile hospital environment without his wife at his side. But rather than dying peacefully and comfortably in his own home, we see Lynn desperately making numerous phone calls to district nurses, her GP, ambulances and doctors, trying to get pain relief for Harry. Although it’s very upsetting seeing Lynn coming round to the realisation that they have to wait longer and longer for someone to help, even when Harry is clearly dying, this is definitely the most desirable option for death, compared to what else we’re shown.
Ken Rashid, dying from a multitude of ailments including Parkinson’s disease, pneumonia and hospital infections receives the most horrendously demeaning, patronising and disrespectful treatment from the nurses. At one point we hear that his family are “concerned about the sensitivity of the staff’. Concerned? They will no doubt be outraged when they see the secret footage of one male nurse impatiently trying to force Ken to swallow his medicine, despite him having a condition that makes it difficult to swallow. I’m quite confident that the nurses shown in the secret footage no longer have a job.
But are the problems to do with the cost of care? Or is it poor communication between district nurses, GPs and hospitals? Maybe it’s just the lack of compassion for the elderly and dying? Whether it’s one or a combination of all of these factors, and more, the situation is quite frankly (excuse the pun) dire.
Even someone like Annie, who has no fear of death because of her religious beliefs and long term illness, all she wants is to die in a peaceful and comfortable environment. However, she needs palliative care (round the clock, higher quality care) for her deteriorative motor condition. But palliative care isn’t exactly widely available as most go to cancer patients, despite the disease only accounting for 25% of deaths.
Despite the earnest apologies from the hospitals to the patient’s families at the end of the programme, it doesn’t alter the fact that everyone who has seen this will think twice about where their loved ones end up when they are nearing the end of their life. Nobody should have to go through such pain and torment, ESPECIALLY when the Government’s End of Life Care Strategy is meant to ensure no one goes without adequate care in their final weeks. But as this clearly demonstrates, something has to change. Perhaps now it will.
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