[Magdalen] RIP Sir Terry Pratchett

sally.davies at gmail.com sally.davies at gmail.com
Fri Mar 13 16:47:20 UTC 2015


Oh, and another interesting aspect of palliative care in our town, the
Hospice doctor who goes by the beautiful name of Nan Jolly (something Terry
Pratchett could have invented!) is also a much respected and loved
Breastfeeding and post-natal consultant. She's very aware of the parallels
between beginning and end of life, when it comes to medical assistance aka
interference!

Sally D
On Fri, 13 Mar 2015 at 01:46 Roger Stokes <r.s.stokes.65 at cantab.net> wrote:

> ------ Original Message ------
> From: "ME Michaud" <michaudme at gmail.com>
> To: "magdalen at herberthouse.org" <magdalen at herberthouse.org>
> Sent: 12/03/2015 22:43:23
> Subject: Re: [Magdalen] RIP Sir Terry Pratchett
>
> >My nderstanding (and I could be wrong) is that the British are
> >much better at end-of-life care than we are. We've talked about
> >DNR orders being routinely ignored here. And I think we talked
> >about the pacemaker conundrum here also.
>
> The concept of Hospice care started in Britain with Dame Ciceley
> Saunders in the 1950's who qualified, in succession, as a nurse, social
> worker and doctor.  The first dedicated hospice opened in London in
> 1967.  The aim is to give holistic care, including emotional and
> spiritual care alongside the medical.  The aim is to allow the
> individual the best possible quality of life at every stage of a
> life-limiting condition. Hospices, both for day-care and for inpatients,
> are now a part of British life but they still rely heavily on voluntary
> fund-raising to complement what the government funds.
>
> I do not claim for one moment that we have end-of-life care sorted out.
> Until a few years ago we had what was called the Liverpool Pathway (Joan
> was put on it, and I believe it was appropriate for her) where purely
> palliative care to keep the patient comfortable as nature takes its
> course.  That was stopped after concerns that it was being used
> inappropriately in some cases where the condition was not necessarily
> terminal.  A few weeks ago the local hospital chaplain spoke to our
> clergy chapter and said that discussing end-of-life plans is still
> something that many doctors feel uncomfortable about and will not
> address directly.  She and I believe that is wrong.  We all have the one
> condition with 100% mortality - it's called life.
>
> As you imply we have considered before situations where medical
> intervention is basically futile and, I would add, depriving the patient
> of their intrinsic human dignity.  I believe the hospice philosophy has
> much to offer to medicine in its recognition of reality and affirming
> the dignity of the patient at all times, providing emotional support to
> their loved ones as well.  On this list we have (at least) one person
> receiving hospice care (Brud Jon) and the husband of another (Jim).
> Jon's post today about his retirement epitomises for me the essence of
> appropriate care - recognizing his calling as a deacon even when he can
> no longer exercise it in any active way.  Jim's Marcy's condition
> strikes me as being particularly hard as her body refuses to do what she
> wants it to do and so she has to rely on others for intimate care.  I
> pray that while Jim is away in Hawaii Marcy receives a more holistic
> care away from the memories of how their home has had to be adapted
> (very well in my view having seen it) and the inevitable rebalancing of
> the husband-wife relationship.
>
> Roger
> >
>
>


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