Communication failings in patient's end–of–life care

What happened

Mrs K was concerned about the treatment offered to her mother when she was admitted to hospital as an emergency. Sadly, within a week of her admission, Mrs K's mother died.

Mrs K felt that the Trust could have done more to make her mother's death less traumatic for her and her family.

What we found

The Trust gave the family inaccurate information about the pain relief it had given Mrs K's mother. The Trust acknowledged that its communication around implementing the Liverpool Care Pathway was not good. However, the Trust did not explain how it would avoid this happening in the future.

Putting it right

The Trust apologised to Mrs K for its inaccurate response about pain relief. It also prepared an action plan to address its communication failings and to make sure that the views of all concerned are listened to, considered and documented when any end–of–life care plan is considered.