Professor Patrick Pullicino , a leading neurologist who has criticised plans to ask every ill or elderly person if they want to die at home or in hospital . A plan to draw up a ‘ death list ’ of how every ill or elderly person wants to die has been criticised as a dangerous and worrying idea . The influential Commons Health Select Committee yesterday called for a new database listing whether people would prefer to die at home or in hospital . They said two-thirds want to spend their final days at home – but half still die in hospital . A register of preferred options would help to stop this happening , MPs on the committee said . But Professor Patrick Pullicino , a leading neurologist , said the plan simply perpetuates the ‘ central flaw ’ of the discredited Liverpool Care Pathway . The professor , who was the first senior doctor to expose the failures of the LCP three years ago , said such a register carried huge risks . Those who wished to die at home might be denied essential care , said Professor Pullicino , a consultant neurologist with East Kent Universities NHS Foundation Trust . He also said it was not possible to know when a person will die . The LCP was abolished last July following several examples of ‘ shocking ’ abuse , many of them unveiled by the Daily Mail . Many families complained that their relatives were sedated with a ‘ chemical cosh ’ then killed by the removal of food and fluids , leading Care Services Minister Norman Lamb to denounce the LCP as a ‘ national disgrace ’ . Professor Pullicino said the latest plan risked making the same mistakes . ‘ This predication of a specific line of treatment on a prognostication of imminent death that is not evidence-based was the central flaw of the LCP and is perpetuated in this report. ’ Research into the question of how to diagnose imminent death accurately was ‘ completely absent from the list ’ of priorities in the report , he added . The doctor said the danger was particularly acute for those with dementia . Around two-thirds of people want to spend their final days at home – but half still die in hospital ( file picture ) The report was also criticised by Dr Tony Cole , chairman of the Medical Ethics Alliance , a pro-life group of medical organisations . ‘ There have always been difficulties in predicting imminent death , ’ he said . ‘ A patient at the end of life may also have a treatable condition which could be relieved . People making their own end of life plan may not have foreseen this. ’ The MPs ’ report says most people who express a preference say they would like to die at home but this was made difficult by disparate community palliative care services . Sarah Wootton , of Dignity in Dying , the assisted suicide lobby group , said there was ‘ a real need for greater information and support for people approaching the end of life to enable them to plan ahead ’ .
Plans will let every ill and elderly person say how they will want to die . Database would list if people would want final last year at home or hospital . But leading neurologist Patrick Pullicino has criticised the proposal . Says the plan is too similar to the discredited Liverpool Care Pathway . The LCP was abolished days following examples of 'shocking abuse '