How NMC helped a patient find dignity and comfort at the end of life

When Mohammed Mazhar Siddique, a long-time UAE resident with a history of complex medical conditions, was diagnosed with terminal interstitial lung disease (ILD), his family faced the daunting reality of a life-limiting illness. Seeking comfort and dignity for their father, his daughters, Dr Fouzia Siddique and Kashaf Siddique, turned to NMC’s palliative care consultant, Dr Paul Coulter.

“Living in a state of constant oxygen deprivation, forever hungry for more air is a debilitating affliction I would not wish on anyone,” says Fouzia. “Its emotional, mental, physical, physiological, and psychological toll on the patient and their family is profound. So, when I started looking for a palliative medicine doctor in Dubai, I was seeking someone who was going to offer my family the dignity that we would want our father to have in death, in much the same way as he had lived his life.” 

Comprehensive palliative care

Dr Coulter coordinated a comprehensive care plan for Siddique that included complex decision-making across multiple different specialties including neurology, endocrinology, cardiology, pulmonology, dietetics and gastroenterology.

“I want my patients to receive the best care, a level of care I would want for my own father and mother,” says Dr Coulter.

Fouzia says finding Dr Coulter was a miracle. “As people of faith, my sister and I can only describe finding Dr Coulter exactly when and where we needed him as nothing short of a miracle, something that has felt even more true since our very first meeting.”

Dr Coulter’s multidisciplinary approach focused on comfort and dignity, ensuring their father received the treatment he needed, right up until his recent death. This included home visits, symptom management with opiates, a speech and language therapy assessment, and working through important advance care decisions including the family’s wishes around ventilation and CPR, ensuring that no unnecessary or distressing procedures would be imposed. 

Restoration of choice

“What has mattered most, beyond even the advocacy, is the restoration of choice, something fundamental to dignity in such a life-limiting illness. At every step, Dr Coulter ensured we had that choice,” says Fouzia.

Palliative care is still a relatively new specialty in the UAE, and services for non-cancer patients are particularly rare. Despite their grief, the Siddique sisters are adamant that their father’s experience should highlight the importance and value of such compassionate, holistic care to families such as theirs. “Dr Coulter gave us a little bit more of our father for a little bit longer,” says Kashaf. “Maybe our story can give another family hope that care like this exists and is possible.”

Fouzia too has high praise for NMC’s palliative care. “The fact that NMC has taken the first steps in establishing palliative care speaks volumes about how seriously it takes this matter. By pioneering palliative medicine, NMC is helping chart a path forward. It’s a privilege and a blessing to bring comfort to people at their most vulnerable. There is no greater goodness in the universe than a contribution such as this one.”

To learn more about the family’s journey, watch the short film at https://nmc.ae/en/testimonials

NMC’s palliative care services are available at two locations in Dubai: Al Nahda and Dubai Investments Park.