A SENIOR Hampshire end-of-life doctor has cautiously welcomed a report into overhauling the way dying patients are cared for.

The Government has ordered hospitals to carry out immediate reviews of their practices and phase out the Liverpool Care Pathway (LCP) in coming months.

It will be replaced with a personalised end-of-life care plan for each individual patient.

This comes after an independent report concluded the pathway, which can involve the withdrawal of food and treatment, was being “misused”.

But Dr Carol Davis, pictured below, consultant lead for palliative care at University Hos-pital Southamp-ton, which runs Southampton General Hos-pital, Princess Anne Hospital and the Countess Mountbatten House, said the LCP worked well when used properly. She said: “I think there has been so much negative press about it. My greatest fear is that the principles that underlie it will be abandoned.

“These principles are about the best possible symptom control, about dignity, about communication about tailoring and altering care so it suits that one person.”

Health officials have ordered a complete overhaul of care for terminally ill patients after the independent review concluded that doctors in other hospitals in England have used a controversial end-of-life care regime “as an excuse for poor-quality care”.

The review panel, chaired by crossbench peer Baroness Julia Neuberger, said they were “shocked” and “upset” at some of the cases of appalling care.

Patients were left on the pathway for weeks without any review and some patients’ families were even shouted at by nurses for giving them water, she said.

Dr Davis said she accepted that there had been incidents elsewhere in the country, but that used properly the pathway could improve the care of the dying.

However she praised the review for highlighting that the provision of high quality end-of-life care can never rely on pathways and procedures alone. She said: “A compassionate culture of care where patients are treated as individuals and staff are fully trained and supported is needed.

“Really good communication between ill people and their families and the health and social care professionals looking after them is vital in all care settings.

“We are working hard, together with others across our local community, to ensure that we get that right.”

She added: “Clearly we need time to carefully analyse the report and its 44 recommendations and will be doing that over the next few weeks.”