Palliative careThe failure to implement key aspects of a report on the future of palliative care in the Republic is adding to delays in seeing patients and inequities in services for patients across the country, it has been claimed.
A key recommendation of the Department of Health's Report of the National Advisory Committee on Palliative Care 2001 has not yet been implemented - palliative care encapsulates total care provision for a patient when there is no expectation of a cure.
The failure to establish a National Council on Palliative Care is of particular concern to the Irish Hospice Foundation (IHF) which believes the potential for equitable and planned service across the country is severely restricted.
In a statement, the Irish Cancer Society (ICS) said it was concerned that there was no national plan for developing palliative care, and that the palliative care report will soon be out of date especially with regard to the delivery of minimum standards.
It also fully supports the establishment of a National Council for Specialist Palliative Care, under the proposed newly formed Health Service Executive.
"This will ensure the delivery of national and community, evidence-based, stream-lined palliative care and will ensure that patients are seen earlier in the treatment plan," said Dr John Kennedy, consultant medical oncologist, St James's Hospital, Dublin 8 and chairman of the ICS Medical Committee.
Dr Eoin Tiernan, a consultant in palliative medicine at St Vincent's Hospital, Dublin, and the new Blackrock Hospice told The Irish Times that one of the report's fundamental recommendations was the establishment of this council to advise the Minister and drive the implementation of the report's recommendations.
No action has been taken on this yet, he noted - the Department of Health says: "this is being considered in the context of the restructuring of the health service".
Uncertainty over the restructuring of health boards and other health service reforms is destroying morale in the palliative care area, according to an IHF spokesman who added: "this is a terrific blueprint but where is the action?"
The Report of the National Advisory Committee on Palliative Care is one of them.
The initial detailed estimate for the full implementation of the recommendations was €56 million. At its launch in 2001 it had an implementation framework of five years.
The chairman of the committee who compiled the report, Dr Tony O'Brien who is based at St Vincent's and Blackrock Hospice, said the report had a five- to seven-year time frame.
Dr O'Brien said the Minister for Health in 2001 gave his explicit undertaking to provide the revenue for implementation of the report's recommendations.
While progress has been made in many areas outlined in the report like the appointment of palliative care consultants and the support for homecare teams, Dr O'Brien said there was "a little catching up to do".
Since October 2001, an additional €13.2 million has been invested in palliative care services, according to the Department of Health.