The Pathway does give dignity in death
THE Liverpool Care Pathway (LCP) was not a form of euthanasia, but was evolved in a hospice environment and, if followed correctly, was a means of caring for the dying to enable a dignified death. Not one that is obstructed by unnecessary and meaningless medical interventions that ensured death was painful. In her report in 2014, Baroness Julia Neuberger acknowledged that the LCP was not being properly applied. The problem, as many healthcare professionals believe, was not with the Pathway itself, but how it was implemented in particular places. As a nurse I have witnessed deaths that have been traumatic, unplanned and frankly distressing, not just for the dying but also the family and healthcare professionals involved in caring for that patient. I have also had the privilege of being at deaths that were calm, meaningful and peaceful. The people behind the LCP as it began did not set out to cause human suffering and,
Missed opportunity
HER Majesty the Queen will be transported via a steam locomotive as she opens the Borders Railway.
What is regrettable is that the same courtesy and sound engineering principles will not be extended to her subjects for whom the regular service will be provided by unreliable diesel traction.
Yet another missed opportunity by the Scottish Government, which should have used part of its investment in the reopened Waverley Route to support the skills and technology needed for the next generation of steam train construction. JOHN EOIN DOUGLAS,
Edinburgh.
Trustworthy Attlee
IT IS wrong to assume that just because someone is a socialist, they are wrong (Letters): one of the clearest and most incisive writers of the 20th century was a socialist, and anyone i nterested in politics should read Animal Farm, Homage To Catalonia and 1984. They will realise that their author, George Orwell, was a good and decent man, to be frank, I am appalled that anybody can believe that they did. To compare them with paedophiles is truly monstrous. Healthcare just like Clement Attlee. Attlee came to socialism from a fairly privileged position, and after distinguished service in WWI, he rose to the top of the Labour Party after serving as deputy Prime Minister in the wartime coalition government.
When compared with Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, Jim Callaghan and Harold Wilson — all Labour Prime Ministers who also led the party — he was a pillar of decency and honesty.
I was born in 1945, and Attlee might not have been the most charismatic of the Labour PMs, but he was, in my opinion, the most trustworthy and in the circumstances he did his best.
DAVID PIMBLETT, Horbury, Wakefield. professionals involved in palliative care believe passionately that people die once and that experience has to be the best we can make
Birthday blues
EPHRAIM HARDCASTLE writes that George Osborne doesn’t want us to have a bank holiday next year to celebrate the Queen’s 90th birthday as the last holiday in 2012 cost the country too much.
People worked an extra day in 2012 as it was a leap year. Next year will also be a leap year so any costs should be made up by working on February 29.
COLIN STEEL, Great Cornard, Suffolk.
Help, I’m in a jam!
I HAVE been making jams, chutneys and preserves for it. We are endeavouring to attain that despite all obstacles thrown at us. SUSAN RUST, Borough Green,
Kent. more than 40 years, and I have never needed a jam-making kit (Femail, August 6) costing nearly £20. The one offered consists of a preserving rack, a jar- lifting gadget, a bubble removing tool and three jars with lids. Apart from the jars and lids, I have no idea what the other objects are.
Making jam is very easy: you just need a large saucepan or preserving pan, a wooden spoon, an ordinary side plate, a teaspoon and sterilised jars and lids.
Most jams are made by using a pound of sugar to a pound of fruit, boiled together until it sets. Yes, it’s that easy. CAROLINE PACKER,
Warminster, Wilts.