The Coalition Government must provide urgent funding to
Totara Hospice to stop it having to cut its services by a
quarter from next week, NZNO says.
Totara Hospice
provides end-of-life care at no direct cost to patients from
a diverse and growing community of around 520,000 South
Aucklanders and is the subject of a new documentary series
called Hospice Heroes.
New Zealand Nurses Organisation
Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa (NZNO) delegate and
hospice nurse Ed Boswell-Correa said staff were yesterday
told the hospice had to reduce the number of people they
actively care for in a month from 420 to 320 because of a
lack of Government funding.
“This decision is
devastating for the local community. It will mean only the
sickest people will be able to access our
services.
“It will force elderly people to
remain in aged care facilities when they need specialist
palliative care. Other people will be forced to go to
Middlemore Hospital for care or worse still, not receive the
care they need at all.
“These people
deserve the dignity they are provided by hospice when they
are dying.”
Ed Boswell-Correa says yesterday’s
“bombshell announcement” follows a hiring freeze Totara was
forced to put in place last month.
“Fewer nurses and
health care assistants mean less care for our patients. We
want to be able to provide our patients and their whānau
with the health care they need at this traumatic time in
their lives,” he says.
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Sadly, Totara Hospice isn’t
alone. NZNO is aware of at least four other hospices having
to reduce their services. The Coalition Government must
provide Te Whatu Ora with the funding it needs to save these
services now.
A report in March found hospices provide
taxpayers with at least $1.59
in health benefits for every dollar of government
funding.
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