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Palliative cuts protest |
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Palliative cuts protest video |
broadcast 17 Sept. 2003, on Shaw TV 4 lower mainlandRT: 5:00 |
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May 29, 2003Nurses, patients decry cuts to palliative careNurses joined with patients and family members today to decry plans to close hospital beds and services throughout BC that accommodate people in the final days of their lives, as well as their families."We are absolutely appalled that health authorities are so anxious to cut their spending and meet their budgets that they�re cutting crucial palliative care services in hospitals," says Peggy Eburne, co-chair for the BC Nurses� Union�s Simon Fraser Region. "What they�re proposing to replace those beds is simply not adequate to meet the growing need for palliative care." Cuts are occurring across the province. Perhaps the most dramatic is in the Fraser Health Authority, where officials plan to eliminate all 12 palliative care beds at Eagle Ridge Hospital, and all 10 beds at St. Mary�s Hospital, leaving only 10 tertiary palliative beds at Burnaby General for the entire Fraser North area, which stretches as far east as Maple Ridge. Those remaining 10 beds would be open only to patients with the most complex needs. The plan is to sharply increase the number of patients who die at home and in newly-created hospice beds. "There are many problems with this scheme," says Helene Greenaway, also co-chair for BCNU�s Simon Fraser region. "Many patients in the last days of their lives simply require more care than they can receive in a hospice or in their own homes. The level of staffing available in a hospice is much lower than in hospital so only patients classified as "stable" are appropriate there. And unlike in hospital, patients admitted to a hospice have to pay for care out of their own pockets. As for care in the community, there is no funding for the extra nursing and home support resources needed to enable people to remain in their own homes." Marie Dunlop, whose seriously-ill husband is currently in the palliative care ward at St. Mary�s says she is deeply grateful for the care her husband has received at the facility and wants to ensure other families faced with similar circumstances are not abandoned by the health care system. At the same time health authorities are cutting resources that help family care-givers provide support to their dying loved ones. St. Paul�s Hospital is eliminating two respite beds and one symptom management bed where chronically ill patients can go periodically to have their condition assessed and give family members a break from regular care-giving responsibilities at home. Daryl Carter, who is terminally ill says the St. Paul�s facility has been crucial in helping him maintain his health and in providing critical support for his partner who is caring for Daryl at home. In the Kootenays, the widespread closing of hospital beds means palliative patients are being sent to long term care homes where they�re forced to pay daily fees but staffing hasn�t been increased to meet their needs. In White Rock a recent one-day snapshot survey commissioned by the Fraser Health Authority at Peace Arch Hospital showed there were 30 palliative care patients waiting for placement throughout the hospital. An assessment revealed only 11 could have been placed in a community-based hospice if available, while the remainder 19 patients were designated acute and needed to receive specialized care in the acute care setting. But the 7 designated palliative care beds at Peace Arch are constantly full. The lack of palliative care beds lead to one patient being held for days in the emergency room before dying the day he finally got a medical bed. Another patient was transferred to a long-term care facility attached to the hospital where he died. There was no specialized staff prepared to deal with pain management and end of life issues. BCNU president Debra McPherson says efforts to meet budget cuts by restructuring palliative care are especially cruel because they impact people at the most vulnerable time of their lives. "While the provincial government says it wants a comprehensive plan for end-of-life care in BC, the cuts it is forcing on its health authorities makes sound planning impossible. They�re cutting acute palliative care beds as a cost savings measure creating greater hardship for patients and their families." - 30 -
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