Irish hospice foundation demand action for midlands
Public meeting, today Wednesday October 21, 7.30pm in Mullingar Park Hotel
The Irish Hospice Foundation (IHF) has called for “urgent” action at government and HSE level to provide adequate end of life care services in Westmeath, Laois, Offaly and Longford.
The region is an end of life care “blackspot” with no inpatient hospice unit and has the lowest level of investment in palliative care nationally, the IHF says.
IHF CEO, Sharon Foley said: ““The 300,000 plus people who live in the midlands should have the same chance to live well until the end as those living in other parts of Ireland. The current situation is unacceptable.”
According to Ms Foley there is a high reliance on hospice groups to raise money to sustain services, including homecare nurses. The homecare teams do not have the dedicated support of a full multi-disciplinary team including social workers, occupational therapists and physiotherapists.
The report of the National Advisory Committee on Palliative Care, which was adopted as government policy in 2001, states: ‘Each health board area should have a comprehensive specialist palliative care service... [to] support the patient wherever the patient may be.’
A number of strategic plans drafted since 2001 were hampered by health cutbacks and a public service recruitment embargo.
In 2013 the IHF funded a research project that identified critical gaps and pinpointed needs including the development of a specialist in patient unit (hospice) for palliative care and associated day services. It also called for a second palliative care consultant with supporting NCHDs, palliative care nurse specialists in acute hospitals and enhanced community/home care teams.
Ms Foley said: “A full and detailed implementation plan was drawn up by the regional committee on palliative care in 2014 to build services in all the settings where people die – hospital, the community, and hospice.
“While the second consultant post is in planning stages, its seems little other progress has been made, particularly in relation to the inpatient unit.”