The report that hundreds of hospital patients their lives shortened by the administration of strong powerful in the years before 2000 comes as no surprise. However, I find it far less concerning than does the media.
There is no doubt that some patients were hurried to their end by being given large doses of morphine although such patients would have been those with terminal conditions, very near to death and who would have been in considerable pain had they not been medicated. was
In 1997, my brother died in hospital after losing a battle with leukaemia. At the end, he was unconscious, had no chance of recovery and his airways were increasingly blocked with blood. His breathing was harsh and terrible to hear and, had he been conscious, I am certain that he would have been in terrible pain. I made it clear to the senior nurse that I did not want him to suffer any more than was necessary and the nurse acknowledged that she understood my meaning. Within less than an hour, my poor brother had died and I am sure that he was helped to his end by a large dose of morphine. Far from being angry at this, I am forever thankful that the ward staff saved him from what may well have been many more hours of suffering.
I don't know whether the patients of Dr Jane Barton at Gosport Memorial Hospital were in similar situations to my brother nor whether Dr Barton was simply following this widespread practice or was another Harold Shipman. However, until this is clearly determined, the media, and others, would be well advised to be highly circumspect in their comments for fear of creating a situation akin to that of the much maligned, though entirely innocent, Bristol landlord, Christopher Jefferies.
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