Tag Archives: palliative care

HEALTHCARE agencies across the Mid-West have come together to develop a new five-year strategy for Palliative Care in Limerick, Clare and North Tipperary.  The Mid-West Palliative Care Strategy (2021-2025), which was launched this week in an event at Milford Care Centre, sets out a vision to bring additions to the high quality services already available in the region. The strategy has been jointly developed by Milford Care Centre, HSE Mid West Community Healthcare and UL Hospitals Group and seeks to further develop a partnership approach among each of these key healthcare partners. Its focus is “all services in the Mid West working together to care for persons with life limiting conditions.”  In practice, it will function as the roadmap on which initiatives over the coming years will be developed and implemented by the HSE and Milford Care Centre, with the support of other key agencies and voluntary partners across the Mid West. It sets out a vision for the next four years that …

MORE out-of-hours support for end-of-life patients requiring specialised pain management are needed, according to a local carer, who has outlined the “nightmare” experience in looking after her late mother. While the Irish Cancer Society does provide a night nurse for an average of 10 nights, up to a maximum of 14, the carer stated this is inadequate for anyone looking after a patient at home for a number of months. Apart from this service, the carer claimed Milford Hospice, which is the main palliative care provider in the Mid-West, is not in a position to send out a night nurse to deliver pain relief for a patient in the middle of the night. Nursing her mother, who was in her eighties, at home for four months, the carer stated phone support is only available from Milford after 6pm. “No doctor ever came out to my home. I had to take my mother once to a doctor at 10.30pm, some four …

STAFF from the Milford Care Centre in Limerick will be in Ennis next Thursday, asking people one question for Palliative Care Week, What Have You Heard? What Have You Heard? is the chosen theme for the annual week and seeks to identify what the public knows about palliative care. The basis of the theme comes from the premise that if people don’t know what palliative care is, how would they know how much it could help them or their loved one? Palliative Care Week is an annual all-island initiative aimed at promoting palliative care. Throughout the week, a national awareness campaign will be launched, which will incorporate active engagement with the general public on the subject of palliative care. To answer the question, the staff of Milford Care Centre will be engaging with the public through a number of forums. First, there will be a competition that will ask the public to submit a poem, short story or video illustrating …

People are being encouraged to learn more about palliative care, as details of a public information campaign are announced. Palliative Care Week takes place from October 3-8 and is being coordinated by All Ireland Institute of Hospice and Palliative Care (AIIHPC) to encourage greater understanding of palliative care. The campaign theme is Enabling Living to highlight the positive impact palliative care has on the quality of life of people living with a serious and progressive condition. Comprehensive information including videos, a leaflet and posters can be found atwww.thepalliativehub.com. There is also information on how to engage in a number of social media activities and how to follow these using the hashtag #pallcareweek. Information events will be happening locally in communities, in hospitals, hospices, palliative care units and across organisations during the week. A survey carried out by AIIHPC in advance of the week found that more than half of adults surveyed in Ireland (55%) reported that they have a basic or minimal understanding of what palliative …

A public campaign is underway inviting patients, carers and families to share stories about their experiences of care to help improve services for people with non-curable and serious illnesses. During the month of April, across the country, the Let’s Talk About Care campaign is calling on people to share their experiences by completing an open survey at www.caresurvey.org. The survey is being led by All Ireland Institute of Hospice and Palliative Care (AIIHPC) and open to people (or their carers or families on their behalf) with serious conditions such as advanced respiratory disease, chronic kidney disease, motor neuron disease, cancer, heart failure, dementia and so on. AIIHPC director, Paddie Blaney said, “For people with conditions that cannot be cured¨, the goal of care is the best possible quality of life. They may need help with pain and other symptoms but also practical, social, emotional and spiritual support and they may need that care for weeks, months and years up to …

THE Health Service Executive (HSE) has revealed that Regina House in Kilrush  is currently down staff, due to long-term sick leave, but they can still accommodate two palliative care patients in the building. The HSE did, however, confirm the West Clare Mini Marathon-funded palliative care rooms are currently empty. Last week, mini marathon chairman, Willie McGrath said that one of two palliative care units in Regina House was not in current use. The rooms were opened in February 2004 and have benefited from in excess of €180,000 in funding from mini marathon proceeds since the first run was held in 1998. “We have to be absolutely definitive and clear on such a sensitive issue. The following are the facts and we are anxious to assure the public. Regina House has capacity to support two people in palliative care at any one time,” HSE area manager for the Mid-West, Bernard Gloster said. “Today, there are two people in the centre receiving …

MORE than a quarter of people helped by Milford Care Centre (MCC) every year are from Clare. Clare people are also to the fore in driving and expanding MCC’s services in the Mid-West, particularly when it comes to the work involved in financing and funding the specialist care needed by end-of-life patients. Milford Care Centre is the designated specialist palliative care service provider for Clare, Limerick and North Tipperary. It operates through consultant-led teams of professionals at Milford Hospice in-patient unit in Castletroy, and its Hospice At Home care teams, working in conjunction with doctors and local respite beds, in support bed units across the region. The head of finance at MCC is Cathy Sheehan from Ballynacally. Working with Milford since 1997, she has seen a rapid expansion in the range of services offered in response to growing demands over the past 17 years. “Last year, Milford looked after over 1,500 patients across the region and, with 25% of those …