1. Some research has suggested that the traditional emphasis on malignancy in hospice care raises ethical issues.For example, Harris (1990, see Clark 1993, p. 172) describes an ‘underclass’ of dying people and a neglect of elderly people, people from black and ethnic minorities, AIDS patients etc., due to the concentration of resources for people with cancer.
2. It should be noted here that a representative of Lighthouse responding to a draft of the evaluation report objected to the use of the word ‘story’ in this context, claiming that “it is categorically denied there is any foundation to the story” quoted. However, as I justified in the final draft of the report: “Use of the word ‘story’ in this context is explicitly intended to be ambiguous with regard to the ‘factual’ nature of the material concerned. The point is, this ‘story’ was circulating around the hospice; it was repeated from a number of different sources on a number of different occasions and had assumed a reality of its own, regardless of whether or not the ‘event’ had actually occurred. The sharp distinction drawn between ‘perception’ and ‘fact’ cannot be sustained in this context. Perceptions are real and factual insofar as they provide the basis and justification for human thought, behaviour and action”. (Crossley and Small 1998, p. 46)