As my patient was dying, this is how we failed her

‘But I can’t shake the feeling of having let down a patient who believed me when I reassured her of a peaceful death at home,’ writes Ranjana Srivastava, on palliative care in Australia. Photograph: PeopleImages.com/Getty Images

“I am sorry to have ruined your morning,” she says, clasping my hand, both of us tearful.

I spot her bracelets, beaded ones spelling the names of her kids. After wearing them for a few days, she slid them off only to cause the kids mock offence – they were meant as “forever” bracelets.