Irish Hospice Foundation Welcomes Support for Hospice/Palliative Care in New Social Partnership Deal

Towards 2016 Ten-Year Framework Social Partnership Agreement 2006 – 2015 PRESS RELEASE The Irish Hospice Foundation (IHF) welcomes the provision in the new Social Partnership agreement to prioritise hospice care over the next three years by further developing palliative care throughout Ireland, with particular reference to the Baseline Study on the provision of Hospice/Specialist Palliative Care Services. An extra €15 million will be needed each year for the coming five years if a comprehensive service is to be offered to patients and their families. The baseline study was launched last March and benchmarked services on a regional basis against the recommendations of the Report of the National Advisory Committee on Palliative Care (NACPC), which was endorsed by the Government in 2001.The report revealed that many of the recommendations of the 2001 report remained unfulfilled.There was continued inconsistency and inequities in accessing hospice services throughout the country.For example, three regions covering 12 counties have no access to hospice in-patient services. Mr Eugene Murray, CEO of the Foundation, stated:We are delighted to see this commitment to developing hospice/palliative care services in the national agreement.However, we need follow up to the aspirations with the financial resources being put in place to develop a fair and equitable end-of-life service.At the launch of the baseline study, the Tanaiste stated that the spending on hospice services should be doubled.To meet the shortfall in funding and develop a comprehensive palliative care service countrywide would necessitate an additional €15 million to be invested in palliative care each year for the coming five years. The current expenditure on hospice/palliative care is approximately €70m.The total cost of providing a world class national hospice/palliative care service would be €144 million or less than 1.2% of the total health budget of €12 billion.This is equivalent to half the cost of a large acute general hospital. Hospice/palliative care involves the total care of patients and their families at the stage in a serious illness where the focus has switched from treatment aimed at cure to ensuring quality of life.Almost 30,000 people die annually in Ireland and over 6,000 people use hospice services every year.It is estimated that up to 13,000 patients will require access to hospice and specialist palliative care in 2016. For more information, please contact: Caroline Lynch, Irish Hospice Foundation, Tel:01-679 31 88/087-123 75 86