This article is from page 51 of the 2012-05-15 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 51 JPG
CLARE rugby great Keith Wood launched an end-of-life care programme, which is being rolled out in hospitals in the mid-west, including Ennis, in an effort to ensure that dying patients receive the best possible care.
Hospitals in the region are now part of the Network of Hospice Friendly Hospitals (HFH) which has been developed over the last five years and includes 25 acute and over 30 community hospitals.
The HFH Programme is in operation in the Mid Western Acute Hospitals Group in Limerick, Nenagh, Ennis, the Regional Maternity Hospital, the Regional Orthopaedic Hospital, Croom, and St Ita’s Community Hospital in Newcastle West.
In the Mid Western Regional Hospital in Dooradoyle, there are an average of 450 deaths each year, ranging in cause from road traffic accidents involving teenagers to complications arising from respiratory complaints among patients aged 90 years of age and over.
Up to 4,500 bereaved people are affected by these deaths.
Keith Wood officially launched the programme which aims to support frontline staff who are delivering end-of-life care, sometimes in very challenging conditions. Speaking at the launch, he said, “According to popular belief, an acute hospital is somewhere where people with various complaints go to get better and a hospice is a place where people go to die.
“Most of us want to die in our own homes. But most people now die in some form of hospital and 48 per cent of us will die in an acute hospital. The challenge facing the acute hospital system is how to train and assist all staff to provide a quality service for all patients at the end of life and also to help their families to cope.”
Frank Gunter, whose sister-in-law died in MWRH Dooradoyle in January 2012, said, “This was a most difficult time for the family, experiencing a tumult of feelings, denial, fatalism and helplessness and I’m sure that unconsciously we probably were a nuisance to the staff. But we were never made to feel that way. The medical and nursing staff were kind, understanding, respectful in all their dealings with us and they kept us informed every step of the way. They provided a safe environment for family to express their grief and sorrow.”
End of Life Care Co-Ordinator at the Mid Western Regional Hospi tal, Miriam McCarthy, commented, “What it boils down to is that we are trying to ensure the best possible care for the patient when they are reaching the end of their life’s journey, so that patients die with dignity and respect. It’s not as easy as it sounds in a busy acute hospital with all its hustle and bustle but staff have shown tremendous interest and families have also appreciated the initiatives that have taken place since we began in January 2011.
“We are organising a remembrance service in June for the families of those who have died in the previous twelve months, and developing plans for the physical upgrading of facilities. End-of-life care matters, and we are working hard to ensure that our hospital culture, the way we do things around here, reflects this.”