title: The demise of the Liverpool Care Pathway: should we ban the highway code because of bad drivers?
abstract: The Neuberger report failed to show that the Liverpool Care Pathway was the cause of poor end-of-life care and made it the scapegoat for poor communication and faulty decision-making. The report's discrediting of a quality assurance mechanism that had the potential for improvement is a disservice to dying patients. Several of the report's recommendations are puzzling, but two consequences of the report, an excellent review of care pathways and a recommendation to establish a national end-of-life coalition, have the potential to improve care of the dying individual.
authors.affiliation: Palliative Care Medicine, St Oswald's Hospice, Newcastle upon Tyne, London.
authors.forename: Claud
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Regnard
mesh_terms: D019091:Critical Pathways / Q000145:classification / Q000592:standards*; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D010043:Outcome and Process Assessment, Health Care / Q000592:standards*; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic / Q000592:standards; D058996:Quality Improvement / Q000592:standards; D019984:Quality Indicators, Health Care / Q000592:standards*; D012539:Scapegoating; D013727:Terminal Care / Q000145:classification / Q000592:standards*; D009626:Terminology as Topic; D016896:Treatment Outcome
keywords: Liverpool care pathway; Neuberger report; care pathways; end-of-life care; older people; quality assurance