I WAS very pleased to read the front page of Saturday’s The NDL and Lucy Haslam’s and Mitch Williams’ concern for the lack of palliative care nurses in Tamworth.
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The “lone palliative care nurse” in Tamworth is hardly able to touch the surface of the vast ocean of need across our community.
Some healthcare districts in NSW with an equivalent-sized population to Tamworth have a team of at least five palliative care nurses working together in an inter-disciplinary team with doctors, social workers, psychologists, chaplains, dieticians, bereavement counsellors and others to provide the necessary care for terminally ill patients.
Palliative care is not just about caring for the dying.
Palliative care is sensible clinical care. It is about the art of the possible. It is a complex negotiation between patients, families and clinicians to understand what is possible and how best to make that happen in the face of a life-limiting illness. Hope becomes less about cure, and more about living life as full as possible.
This is patient-centred care, and when professional staff get it right, they not only help the person with the life-limiting illness, but also have a long-term impact on the health and wellbeing of their family.
Mitch and Lucy are correct. Palliative care can be provided wherever the patient lives. However, and unfortunately, only a very small percentage have that privilege.
Tony Winter
Tamworth