PALLATIVE CARE Improving the
Accuracy of Predictions Our research team at UCL are now conducting further work to try to identify what information might help expert clinicians be more accurate at this kind of prognostication. We simply don’t have the technology to know at present, so it’s our job to explain what we can say about the possibilities and how we know that the pace of deterioration is changing. Sometimes this state of affairs makes doctors appear that they are hiding the truth, or overly cautious for the fear of being wrong.
“It was hard for us to know when the end was going to be”
Janice Jones’s father, Stephen Flint, was diagnosed with terminal bile duct cancer in March 2010. Throughout his illness, doctors could not give the family an estimate of how long he had to live, making it difficult to plan ahead.
Speaking about her ordeal Janice said: “My sister, Tracey, and I shared the care of my father. She would look after him in the week and I cared for him at the weekends. We weren’t given an accurate timescale and the doctor was very non-committal. While some people would prefer not to know, having an idea of how much time dad had left would have made us feel more in control of the situation.
twitter.com/TomorrowsCare
“It was hard for us to know when the end was going to be. I know that every patient is different but people were very reluctant to discuss with us what happens as the end of life approaches.
“Just after 1am on Friday 4 February 2011, my father passed away. It was on my sister’s shift and I will always regret not being there. I still wonder if the doctor knew it was imminent. His feet were rigid, which could have been a sign, and maybe there were others. Knowing would have allowed us to fill our last days with memories rather than get so bogged down in the routine responsibilities of caring for someone who is dying.”
Janice Jones’s story is very familiar to me, because I also missed my Father’s moment of death. At the time, I had been working in hospices for 12 years, seeing 25 people with terminal illness three times a week. As a family, we all knew he was dying, but there were three Christmases that we thought would be his last. We knew his admission with pneumonia to the cottage hospital would only end with his death, but even I didn’t expect him to die that night. Now I have had 35 years experience of palliative care and I understand much better how limited our ability is to predict the time of death.
Marie Curie can help everyone affected by terminal illness get the information and support they need, through its Support Line, online community and information on its website. This includes what to expect when someone nears the end of life and how to plan ahead.
Call free on 0800 090 2309 or visit
www.mariecurie.org.uk/help
- 39 -
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54