Apologies for the long delay, but one of the reasons has been that my mother in law had a fall and broke her hip. She's had surgery now, but went though a phase where we thought she was going to die, either of a lung clot or pneumonia. She's old (78) so this was no real surprise. Looks like things are improving now.
However, what was illuminating is that when my wife had a word with the doctors about her mum's wishes to not be resuscitated should her heart stop, the reply was that although the wishes would be taken into account the final choice lay with doctors and she would still be brought back IF THEY CONSIDERED SHE HAD SUFFIENT QUALITY OF LIFE (my capitals). In her case it would be academic since she'd suffered the effects of a bad stroke eighteen years ago. But this brings up a serious matter: surely there is only one person able to accurately ascertain a patient's quality of life?
That person is the PATIENT. Anything else is a breach of their rights as a human being - and a massive failure to act in the interest of the patient.
Jack Orchison, February 8, 2014.
No comments:
Post a Comment