My F-I-L is 87, does have Parkinson's, fairly well controlled but getting doddery, but is definitely not close to death. He potters about. Does not have cancer, or any other terminal type illness.
He went into a home for a week last week, to give M-I-L respite. When DH rang the home to see how he was the nurse casually mentioned had end of life prescriptions.
WHAAATT? He is NOT end of life!!!
On further investigation we cannot find any record of a DNR/ReSPECT (Recommended Summary plan for emergency care and treatment) form having been completed or those discussions around end of life having happened.
However it seems he has had so called "Just in Case" drugs prescribed and delivered to their home (actual home, not the nursing home). M-I-L claimed they had been left on the doorstep (which may or may not be true as she's not entirely reliable).
The "just in case" drugs are a selection of powerful opiates and sedatives. Morphine, Midazolam, Haloperidol and one or two others for symptom relief.
I am beyond shocked that these have been prescribed, dispensed and delivered, without, as far as we can tell, any recent GP visits or assessment of FiL or evidence of him being close to death. He isn't close to death.
I've looked at various guidelines which talk about discussions including the patient (if they still have capacity) and the family. The prescription is for a patient who is "deteriorating and expected to die imminently". He is a long way for imminent death!
They are in Scotland and we are down south so it is not easy to be on the case, my SiL is going up in a couple of weeks.
DH sent a letter to the practice stating he and SiL had power of attorney and wanted to know when he was last seen by a GP, who prescribed the drugs and why, and what end of life discussions had been had. Also demanding that the drugs are collected by an appropriate person and removed from the house in the next 24 hours.
The practice manager has come back and said the POA is for when a person does not have capacity and FiL does so they won't deal with us about it. (Which kind of proves my point that FiL should have been included in any discussions about end of life needs/drug prescriptions etc, which hasn't happened).
Poor chap now thinks someone wants to bump him off and is very upset about it all.
Aside of concerns re FiL I am appalled that large quantities of controlled drugs are casually dispensed "just in case". Scotland has a massive drug abuse problem and having these drugs kicking about in the community is surely not a good idea. Plus there must be massive wastage as I imagine most dying people will pop off long before they have got through the stocks in the box.
I feel half tempted to spend the weekend just driving up to Scotland and back to remove the drugs myself but then I'd probably get prosecuted for appropriating controlled drugs.
How can we get them removed from the house if the practice won't help?
They did suggest MiL dropping them off at the chemist but that's not good enough. 1. She shouldn't have to do that and 2. That lets them off the hook. I want them to understand the massive balls up they have made and take it seriously.
Having sent a strongly worded but polite and reasonable email to the practice manager, as they are not being helpful we are escalating a full complaint but meanwhile these drugs are sitting there. We want them out of the house.
Has anyone else had an experience like this?