New palliative care and EOLC strategy needed for Northern Ireland

Marie Curie calls for new palliative care strategy for Northern Ireland as 'top priority'

A NEW palliative care strategy has to be given "top priority" and delivered with adequate funding, says the charity Marie Curie.

The leading end of life charity says that by 2040, Northern Ireland will face a 30% increase of demand for people requiring end of life care in the community .

Marie Curie is calling for a 10-year strategy – similar to the Northern Ireland Cancer Strategy published by the Department of Health in March this year – to be urgently approved by the Northern Ireland Executive in order to prepare resources to meet the predicted need.

Joan McEwan, the charity's Associate Director of Policy for Northern Ireland, told a reception at Stormont told a strategy of MLAs and invited guests that a strategy is "long overdue" and asked elected representatives to pledge their support for a new one.

"Our last strategy was published more than ten years ago and sufficient resources were never committed to fully delivering it," she said. "A decade on and a pandemic later, we are in a much different landscape.

"We are faced with an aging population who will need specialised end of life care along with people living with a range of terminal illness such as cancer and dementia, who should have a choice of where they want to die, safe in the knowledge that they will get the care and support they and their family need to make their last days as comfortable as possible.

"But approving a healthcare strategy like this is just the first step. It is a top priority and we need it to be fully delivered and fully funded. We are calling on MLAs to show their support and then we need them to deliver it for the sake of us all."

She stressed the need was to ensure a "better death for all" whether it was at home, in a care setting or at hospital.

"Time is running out to bolster these services and key policy decisions will need to be taken soon if we are to deliver a palliative and end of life care system that is fit for the future," she continued.

Linda Copper's father Patrick Kelly died earlier in June at his home in Londonderry at the age of 85. Mrs Cooper, a nurse from Newtownabbey, explained how she felt that easy access to pain relief medication and having timely support from a healthcare professional out-of-hours and over weekends was necessary.

She said: ''Every service and staff member that we encountered, although professional, caring and compassionate, didn't seem to realise how their role was key in delivering the care needed to the patient, our dad. There was no real sense of a joined-up approach just different cogs all doing their thing but not really engaging.
"There is a great urgency for a new strategy for PEOL care particularly now post Covid-19 where new challenges, gaps in the current services and care need have been identified. The strategy needs to be created with input from patients, families, and carers to ensure it delivers what the patients, like my dad, need. Its focus needs to be on working together for a common purpose."

Joanne Bunting MLA, chair of the Northern Ireland Assembly's All-Party Group on Terminal Illness, added her voice to support to Marie Curie's call.

She said: "Over the pandemic Northern Ireland has experienced a huge increase in deaths and bereavement. It prompts the question are we in the best position to give people the best end of life? The answer sadly, right now, is no.
"Our palliative care services are guided by a strategy that is over six years out of date, which doesn't give the wrap-around care that those living with a terminal illness deserve. We are also not in a position in Northern Ireland where those dealing with a bereavement can easily access the support that they need."

Marie Curie provides end of life nursing care to around 5,500 patients each year in Northern Ireland through its community nursing service which is commissioned by the health trusts and at its hospice in Belfast.