Policy

U.K.'s NHS Hospitals Rewarded for "Pathway to Death"

I'm not dead yet

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The majority of NHS hospitals in England are being given financial rewards for placing terminally-ill patients on a controversial "pathway" to death, it can be disclosed.

Almost two thirds of NHS trusts using the Liverpool Care Pathway have received payouts totalling millions of pounds for hitting targets related to its use, research for The Daily Telegraph shows.

The figures, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, reveal the full scale of financial inducements for the first time.

They suggest that about 85 per cent of trusts have now adopted the regime, which can involve the removal of hydration and nutrition from dying patients.

(H/T: Lord Humungus)