Report warns doctors snub families of the terminally ill amid growing use of 'death pathway'
More than a quarter of families are not told when life support is withdrawn from terminally-ill loved ones, a report has found.
Experts warn that growing use of a controversial 'death pathway' is seeing some patients killed off prematurely.
They say the system can lead to 'backdoor euthanasia' by encouraging doctors to deny fluids and drugs to those deemed to be in their final throes.
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'Governments have got rid of respite care and geriatric wards, so we're left with a crisis. The Government has said let's develop a service to help people die at home - what they should be doing is helping them live. Only when death is unavoidable should you start withdrawing treatment.
'The problem is that there isn't enough discussion between doctors and patients and their relatives. Nobody is talking to them.'
The 'National Care of the Dying' audit also found that less than half of all terminally-ill patients and their relatives are offered religious or spiritual support.
And a quarter of doctors in hospitals are not properly trained in dealing with the dying