Hospice Purposely Trying To Speed Death?

[amjon]

My grandmother was diagnosed with liver cancer in August of last year and given 2-3 months to live. She was put on hospice home care with my aunts and uncle taking turns going over to help her out, so she wouldn't have more than a day or two alone. They all went to my brother's wedding in the middle of September (of this year, she was STILL around and doing well), so she went to stay at the hospice house. She complained that they wouldn't give her medications at the correct times (she has managed everything on her own for years and knows when to take her medications) and wouldn't feed her at the correct times (she is diabetic and needs to be on a certain schedule to keep her levels controlled). They also wouldn't give her the insulin she needed to keep her levels in check and they ended up getting over 300 and even then wasn't really given an intervention. She died a few days later after having been perfectly healthy for 13 months and showing no sign of slowing. I can't help but wonder if they tried to purposely accelerate her death because she was on hospice "too long". Has anyone had a similar hospice experience?

 

[Blah11]

They wouldn't have done that. You can request an investigation but the dying process can cause some people to be very confused towards the end so I imagine it was more that than the hospice trying to speed things up. I know you say she was healthy but realistically healthy people don't spend time in hospices & people do deteriorate quite quickly once in a hospice or hospital setting. I don't know why Hospices and paliative cares aim are to keep the patient comfortable as possible and to not prolong life. They don't speed up death.

 

[Rainbow82]

I agree with the above post but if you ate truly worried maybe you could request her records from the hospice if what times she got her medication, meals and insulin and how much etc, those things are normally recorded along with how much they eat. Also records of blood sugar levels whuch should have been checked.

 

[mammy2oaklen]

i agree with above posts to people do deteriorate in hospital settings quicker than at home but not because they offer less care. my grandfather was at a hospice and the care was wonderful they know its end of life care and support them so that they arent in pain they dont try and keep them alive though as it is end of life. i would get a report if u arent happy

 

[TaylorsMummyx]

maybe it was her time hun?

My mum was giving 6months from stomach cancer, she was completely fine upto the day before she died,she was even playing online bingo in her bed the night before! But she was very confused/seeing things like a black cat ect x

 

[Eleanor ace]

I can't imagine they would have purposefully hastened her death. It might be that they just have their own timetable- scheduled meal times, medication rounds etc. My grandma was in a care home, she had medication that she had to take at a set time for a while and they kept forgetting and bringing it round when they brought the other medicine.
I agree with a pp, ask the hospice for her records

 

[Abz1982]

I dont think that they would have purposefully.........I have only heard of that 'Liverpool car emethod' being used on patients who were really clearly in the end of day stages. But like others have said, you can request her medical records and see what they say,

 

[Blah11]

I dont think that they would have purposefully.........I have only heard of that 'Liverpool car emethod' being used on patients who were really clearly in the end of day stages. But like others have said, you can request her medical records and see what they say,

yeah the liverpool care pathway is only really supposed to be used for a few days. In our ward we generally only start a patient on it when they refuse all food and drink & sleep pretty much all of the time. & when the lcp is started we stop doing observations (bp, temp etc), usually no artificial hydration as it just bags them up, no antibiotics but we continue with pain relief & we turn the patient regularly. The relatives are free to come & go as they please.

 

[violet chase]

I'd tend to agree with Blah11 and the other thing with cancer is (from personal experience) whatever time frame they give you, you usually half it if it's so far advanced. But if your not happy request an enquiry.

 

[amjon]

I can't imagine they would have purposefully hastened her death. It might be that they just have their own timetable- scheduled meal times, medication rounds etc. My grandma was in a care home, she had medication that she had to take at a set time for a while and they kept forgetting and bringing it round when they brought the other medicine.
I agree with a pp, ask the hospice for her records

The thing with diabetes though is that you have to be on a schedule and if you change it you will get all messed up. They had her sugars over 300 and didn't give her enough insulin to get it down. Her body was used to one thing and changing it apparently caused a big problem that she never recovered from. I don't see why you can't keep someone on the schedule they have been or allow them to administer their own medications (as they do at home) when they are only there for a few days.

 

[Ceejay123]

What was her official cause of death Honey? My OH has diabetes, a few days off schedule won't usually affect him, but obviously he's not older and ill. If you need to settle your mind, have an investigation taken out... But I agree with the above posters. I hope you get your peace of mind. x

 

[amjon]

What was her official cause of death Honey? My OH has diabetes, a few days off schedule won't usually affect him, but obviously he's not older and ill. If you need to settle your mind, have an investigation taken out... But I agree with the above posters. I hope you get your peace of mind. x

I'm not sure what they will put on the death certificate. They didn't do an autopsy or anything. I'm guessing it will probably say liver cancer as that's why she was on hospice care.