Warning over controversial care pathway scheme

Parliament has been warned that around 20,000 people with dementia are put on the controversial Liverpool Care Pathway scheme every year.

According to figures from the Marie Curie Palliative Care Institute, around one in six of the 130,000 patients placed on the end-of-life scheme have been diagnosed with Alzheimer's or another form of dementia.

Speaking in the House of Lords, Dr Philip Howard insisted this means these people could not have been properly consulted before their treatment was withdrawn because of their condition, the Daily Mail reports.

In an effort to ensure exhaustive discussion with the patient and relatives takes place, Dr Howard suggests these talks should be recorded on video.

"There is an urgent need to restore the confidence of the public in the medical profession and of individual patients and their loved ones in their doctors and nurses, " he said.

The meeting was called by Baroness Knight, who described the statistics as "shocking" and claimed they are making people "afraid" to go to hospital.

Find out about dementia care and support services at Barchester care homes.