Doctors in England are paid for helping dying patients to die on the Liverpool Care Pathway, as per a recent report. It is, therefore, that Health Secretary Alex Neil has been promising not to ask doctors to meet set targets for the number of such patients.

It has been found that in order to meet LCP goals, some £30 million has been disbursed to south of the Border NHS hospitals in the previous three years. As told by the Association for Palliative Medicine, some patients who are otherwise expected to have an average lifespan of 29 hours on the pathway tend to live for months.

Thus, it has been revealed that a number of hospices get extra financial incentives for showing increased number of deaths on LCP. The same approach is being supported by independent MSP Margo MacDonald as he is struggling to give severely ill patients the right to die when they want.

"The difference between LCP and what I am seeking is that with LCP the patient does not say what they want. In many cases, their families are not even told", Ms. MacDonald was quoted as saying.

But, a group of patient, doctors and patients' families is concerned that deaths are hastened with the same. As a result, Mr. Neil has decided to end the rule of meeting LCP targets.