This discussion has been locked.
You can no longer post new replies to this discussion. If you have a question you can start a new discussion

Syringe Drivers - Did it speed up my mum passing away??

Hi All

My mum sadly passed away 10 weeks ago, a week before Christmas due to cancer of unknown primary with small bowel mets. Mum was dignonsed a week before she passed and it is all extremely hard to accept and to get my head round.

Mum was under hospital admission when she passed, however the day she died, the staff administrated a morphine syringe driver into the thigh. A macmillian nurse later visited mum and the driver was changed to also include anti-sickness drugs as well as the pain releif and then within about 4-5 hours mum had passed away.

Does anyone know if these syringe drivers are only used when someone is extremely sick and in final stages and likewise do you think they quicken things up or was it only used to make mum more comfortable and as pain free as possible?

It's a question that keeps going around in my head and anyone's advice and help would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks

Nicola

  • I realise this is an old post ..I just wondered how you got on with things? The same thing recently happened to my mum ...she was forced to take morphine and when she said she didn’t want it they put her in the driver ...and she went from being responsive to totally vegetative within a day and this starved and dehydrated to nothing and was gone in 6 days ...I think there is something  sinister behind many of the reasoning behind the use of theses drivers ...and it should come down to choice not forced upon people and an awful experience for the family who are not informed or warned in many cases such as ours and I guess yours too ...and I got stonewalled  trying to take it further and get answers and just brushed off ️ Hope you found comfort...I wish that for myself and family but still so very painful now x

  • I AM SO SORRY FOR YOU AND YOUR FAMILY BECAUSE I KNOW THE PAIN YOU ARE GOING THROUGH MY LIFE HAS NEVER BEEN THE SAME AFTER WATCHING WHAT THEY DID TO MY FATHER  I LIVE IN A SMALL TOWN AND HAVE TO SEE THESE PEOPLE WHO TOOK MY DAD'S LIFE, BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT THEY DID AND ARE STILL DOING IT IN THAT HOSPITAL MY FRIENDS DAD SUFFERED THE SAME FATE LAST MONTH AND ARE STRUGGLING TERRIBLY  , YES DARLIN I TOOK IT AS FAR AS I COULD WITH THE NHS, A NINTEEN PAGE REPORT , THE ONLY GOOD THING THAT CAME OUT OF IT WAS 13 RECOMMENDATIONS WERE MADE FOR THE HOSPITAL SO A LOT OF CHANGES WERE MADE AND THE ALCOHOLIC NURSES WERE SENT FOR MORE TRAINING, I GOT AN APOLOGY FOR ALL THE MISTAKES THAT WERE MADE DURING MY DAD'S STAY IN THAT HOSPITAL  BUT THEY STILL WILL NOT ADMIT THAT MY FATHER'S LIFE WAS TAKEN PREMATURELY, OH GOD I STILL EVEN BLAME MYSELF FOR NOT STOPPING THE SCUM FROM PUTTING THE DRIVER IN IT WAS SO AWFUL IL NEVER NEVER EVER GET OVER IT COMPLETELY BUT IV HAD TO TRY SO HARD TO START LIVING MY LIFE FOR THE SAKE OF MY 3 SONS MY GRANDKIDS AND MY LOVLY FIANCE, THEY ARE KILLING PEOPLE ON THE NHS BUT NO ONE IS LISTENING, I ACTUALLY THOUGHT I WAS GOING TO DIE WITH A BROKEN HEART, I PRAY ONE DAY THESE PEOPLE GET THERE KARMA I REALLY DO, I'M NOT A BAD PERSON I'M SO SOFT HEARTED AND WELL LIKED IN MY TOWN SORRY I DON'T WANT TO SOUND BIG HEADED BUT IT'S SO YOU CAN GET AN IDEA OF MY PERSONALITY, BUT I CAN TELL YOU I'M DAMAGED BEYOND REPAIR BUT I HAVE TO FOCUS ON MY FAMILY  , ONLY YOU KNOW IF YOU WANT TO TAKE IT FURTHER, ALL I CAN SAY IS FOLLOW YOUR HEART AT LEAST I GOT SOME CLOSURE I SUPPOSE EVEN THOUGH IT WASN'T THE OUTCOME I'D HOPED FOR  I WAS DRAINED BY THE END OF THE INVESTIGATION  I MISS MY DAD SO MUCH GOOD LUCK MY DARLIN WHAT EVER YOU DECIDE AND I'M ALWAYS HERE IF YOU WANT TO TALK OR NEED ADVICE  GOD BLESS YOU

  • HI AGAIN JUST WANTED TO TELL YOU THAT WHEN THE 4 NURSES WERE INTERVIEWED OVER MY DAD'S DEATH  THEY ACTUALLY ALL LIED IN THERE STATEMENTS WHICH MADE ME ACTUALLY PHYSICALLY SICK WHEN I READ IT IN THE REPORT IN FRONT OF ONE OF THE NHS STAFF DOING THE INVESTIGATION OVER MY DAD'S DEATH, I ACTUALLY PUT THEM OUT OF MY HOUSE, IT WAS THEN I LOST ALL FAITH IN PEOPLE, ALL I CAN SAY IS WE WILL NEVER BEAT THE NHS ABOUT DRIVERS THEY WILL NEVER ADMIT WHAT IS GOING ON XX

  • ahh,Thankyou for replying and yes I totally agree and understand.They trybto make you think you’re going crazy and being hysterical ...the nurses at the care home /hospice my poor mum was were actually goading us repeatedly saying do we have lasting power of attorney ,which they knew we didn’t and we’re like well we can do as we wish then ...I even tried to get the local MP involved so my mum could be returned home but it was too late by then and they’d already bullied my mum and pretended she gave authority for the driver when she couldn’t even speak ....I knew they were lying because I was there and my mum made a noise and they said oh you need more pain killers ...and got morphine ready when what she actually  wanted was a drink of water because of the dehydration...I feel the same as you ,i’ll Never get over what they did...I accepted she would die but not the way thy made it happen and not as cruel and fast either x best wishes