Dame Cicely Saunders has left us with both an invaluable legacy and
an enduring challenge with her passing.
The Hospice Movement was born in 1967 from her distress at witnessing
the unnecessary suffering of others. It is to our collective shame that 38
years later the Channel 4 Dispatches programme ‘On Pain of Death’ was
broadcast last night.
Professor Laurie Taylor’s account of death in Britain today was
harrowing. Most of us will die in considerable pain, not in our own bed
but in a hospital ward, where doctors will hesitate to prescribe adequate
pain relief through ignorance and fear.
Why is this so? Is palliative care part of the core curriculum of
medical schools?
Are there training courses for doctors to attend to bring them up to date
on the latest techniques? Should there be incentives for doctors to
specialise in palliative care? Why is quality of death not a government
priority?
I don’t know the answers to these questions, but I do know that I
agree with St. Augustine that the greatest evil that a person can
experience is physical pain.
Rapid Response:
Her Legacy our challenge
Dear Sir,
Dame Cicely Saunders has left us with both an invaluable legacy and
an enduring challenge with her passing.
The Hospice Movement was born in 1967 from her distress at witnessing
the unnecessary suffering of others. It is to our collective shame that 38
years later the Channel 4 Dispatches programme ‘On Pain of Death’ was
broadcast last night.
Professor Laurie Taylor’s account of death in Britain today was
harrowing. Most of us will die in considerable pain, not in our own bed
but in a hospital ward, where doctors will hesitate to prescribe adequate
pain relief through ignorance and fear.
Why is this so? Is palliative care part of the core curriculum of
medical schools?
Are there training courses for doctors to attend to bring them up to date
on the latest techniques? Should there be incentives for doctors to
specialise in palliative care? Why is quality of death not a government
priority?
I don’t know the answers to these questions, but I do know that I
agree with St. Augustine that the greatest evil that a person can
experience is physical pain.
Competing interests:
None declared
Competing interests: No competing interests