Liverpool Care pathway concerns must be challenged, says minister - Telegraph.co.uk

In some cases it can involve withdrawing food and fluids in combination with administering powerful pain relief.

Doctors have hailed it as a means of giving dignity and comfort to dying people but it has been mired in controversy amid claims that it may have hastened death or been used on people who were not imminently dying.

It has been adopted by around 85 per cent of hospital trusts in England, almost two thirds of whom have received some form of financial reward.

Mr Lamb insisted that the payments had ensured a "good outcome" in many cases by ensuring that families were consulted.

But he said that it was important to "take note" of cases where this had not happened or families not properly involved.

"That is completely wrong, and families are right to complain when that happens," he said.

"It's that sort of approach which has to be challenged and I'm absolutely determined myself to make sure that we do challenge that."

But speaking on the BBC Radio Four's World At one programme, he added: "I want to hear where things have gone wrong, and I want to make sure we address that, absolutely, but an awful lot of good things have happened in recent years to improve the experience at the end of life.

"25 years ago, doctors simply weren't trained in what to do at the end of a patient's life – that led to some dreadful experiences.

"Doctors are now better-trained to understand when it's appropriate to take appropriate actions to ensure that the patient can die with dignity, and that's what this should be about ultimately."