North Westmeath group discuss midlands hospice with minister

Article by North Westmeath Hospice

Since the early 1990s voluntary fundraising has been carried out to ensure that the people of the midlands region are given the best possible end of life care.

This work began with the employment of a palliative care nurse in the Westmeath area funded entirely by voluntary donations.

This has progressed to the development of a complete community care palliative care team, which is consultant-led, and now funded by the HSE and supported by the North Westmeath Hospice CLG.

This palliative care team works seamlessly with the primary care teams, hospitals and nursing homes in the area the midlands remains the only place in the country which doesn’t have a level 3 hospice unit.

Such a facility ensures that patients get priority special care that meets their needs at the end of life and gives respite and support to their families.

On meeting the delegation from North Westmeath Hospice, Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly fully acknowledged the tremendous work done by the five fundraising hospice groups in the region.

He realised that these fundraising efforts needed the support of the government therefore he sought their approval to commit €20 million to this work.

The North Westmeath Hospice group is delighted that this work will now proceed and a midlands regional hospice will be built and will cater for the needs of the region across all levels of end of life care.

Due regard needs to be given to everyone who has worked tirelessly to achieve this goal. This would not have happened without every euro donated by the public, the volunteers, the public representatives, the medical and social care teams and above all the patients and their families.

For the midlands it’s a red-letter day to know that those most in need will get the best care possible close to home at end of life.