News , 01/03/2010
France: the creation of a national end-of-life monitoring centre
Based on the recommendations from the Leonetti end-of-life fact-finding mission, a "national monitoring centre for end-of-life conditions and support practices" was launched on February 22nd by the French Health Minister Roselyne Bachelot. This launch comes several days after the adoption by the Parliament of "end-of-life support leave", one of the key measures of the mission assigned the task of assessing the Leonetti law.
"We will be setting out to discover end-of-life conditions and practices, and the reality may not be very pretty," explained Dr. Régis Aubry who was appointed president of this new body.
Death is a subject "largely hidden" by the hospitals according to the report from the General Inspectorate of Social Affairs (IGAS) which was published in late January. In it, the inspectors feel that it is necessary to set hospitals the task (by means of legislative measures) of guaranteeing a death under satisfactory circumstances. It is important to make doctors understand that they should not only provide treatment, and that supporting patients through to the end is a "noble mission" explained Françoise Lalande, one of the authors of the report who summed up its findings: "quality measures coexist alongside situations in which little respect is shown for the right of patients to die with dignity".
For the families, the avoidance of death by care staff or doctors can make it difficult for them to grieve. "Family and friends often feel that the departure of a loved one has been ‘stolen’ through the sheer abruptness of the manner in which the death is announced, or by a ban on visits for example," stressed Claire Compagnon, the joint author of a report on abuse in hospitals.
In France, more than half of all deaths occur in hospitals or clinics.
(www.le monde.fr, February 22nd, 2010)
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