Complaints included in this review

The current objectives of the Forum include the development of recommendations for a national strategy to manage end of life issues in a comprehensive way; the promotion of public engagement and a debate on end of life issues in their broadest sense; the promotion of advance planning and the proposal that advance paramedics and senior nurses be authorised to pronounce death.

This review tells some of the many stories that people bring to the Ombudsman. All of the people in these stories have had highly regrettable experiences in public hospitals at the time of a final illness and death of a loved one. All of these people believe that they and their loved ones suffered great distress that could have been avoided. Their experiences are being retold to show how things can go wrong and to show how we can learn from past mistakes.

Most complaints made to the Ombudsman are multifaceted; a person may complain about communications, record keeping, pain control, nutrition, privacy, decision making and a wide range of concerns that arise when providing care at end of life.

This review groups complaints under recurring themes that present to the Office of the Ombudsman. These also broadly mirror the themes identified by the Hospice Friendly Hospitals Programme, such as patient concerns, staffing issues, organisational issues and support to families. Some complaints may appear under more than one heading. In certain cases the review concentrates on one aspect only of a complaint.