Irish Hospice Foundation welcomes further HSE support for end-of-life care in Irish hospitals
Published on 7 March 2019
The HSE’s creation of six new hospital end-of-life care coordinator post and funding for the training of 90 Final Journeys facilitators has been welcomed by the Irish Hospice Foundation (IHF) today (Thursday 7 March).
End-of-life care coordinators and the Final Journeys training programme are two key components of the IHF’s Hospice Friendly Hospitals (HFH) programme, which has been working to support acute hospitals to improve end-of-life care since 2007.
The HFH programme formally partnered with the HSE in 2017 with the objective of all Irish acute hospitals having a dedicated end-of-life care committee and coordinators in place to improve the provision of resources and support for patients and families at end of life.
Approximately 12,000 people die annually in Ireland’s acute hospitals where seven end-of-life coordinators currently work.
Commenting on the news, HFH Outreach Officer, Joanne Brennan, said “This is exciting news. The investment in six additional coordinator posts is another welcome step by the HSE towards a comprehensive and consistent approach to end- of-life in our hospitals.”
“Approximately 10% of all acute hospital daily activity is associated with care across the last year of life. The HFH programme, which will be providing induction support for these new posts, will continue to advocate that every hospital in Ireland has the resources to ensure end-of-life care gets the focus and attention it deserves”.
For more information about the IHF’s Hospice Friendly Hospitals programme, click here.
The Hospitals that will receive the six additional End-of-Life Care coordinators are:
Tullamore General Hospital
Cork University Hospital and Mercy University Hospital
Waterford University Hospital
University College Hospital, Galway
Beaumont Hospital and Our Lady of Lourdes hospital, Drogheda
