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Hospice/Palliative Care
Removing
barriers for a family member to die at home
Co-operation between providers
of palliative care
Care provided in
a hospice
Hospice think tank helps
achieve resolution
Removing
barriers for a family member to die at home
Palliative care ~ Rest home ~ Right 1 ~ Respect ~
Effective Communication ~ Right 6 ~ Rully informed
An older woman was receiving palliative care at a rest home. Her
family felt their wish to have her at home to die was not being
respected by the rest home manager. Following initial contact by
the family, the advocate met with the consumer, who while very
frail, was clear that she wanted to go home. She asked the
advocate to speak on her behalf at a meeting with the rest home
manager and her family.
At the meeting the advocate was able to pass on the woman's wish
to go home. The family expressed their concern that the rest home
was putting obstacles in the way to prevent this from happening.
The meeting provided a forum for the consumer's voice to be heard,
her family's concerns to be addressed as well as a discussion on
equipment that would be needed so that the consumer would be as
comfortable as possible at home.
The consumer was transferred home by ambulance later that same
day and spent two days at home, before dying peacefully with her
family around.
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Co-operation between providers of
palliative care
A consumer receiving palliative care support from her local
hospice for multiple health issues contacted an advocate for help
to stay at home. She had been admitted to hospital when her health
deteriorated but had got no response to requests for information
about what support was available for her to stay in her own home.
She requested advocacy support to meet with the NASC, Hospice and
medical staff to discuss her concerns and get co-operation between
the providers involved in her care.
As well as the lack of co-operation, her complaint
highlighted:
- Inadequate information about support services and equipment
from the NASC including respite options and costs.
- Lack of information about options for support in her current
situation.
The consumer wanted sufficient information to make informed
decisions about her ongoing care and was frustrated that her wishes
to stay in her own home had been ignored by the Hospice and NASC,
despite having the support of her family.
The advocate supported the consumer at the meeting. Her
questions were answered and she was discharged from hospital to her
own home with the appropriate support. The consumer was very happy
with this outcome.
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Care provided in a
hospice
A woman contacted advocacy following her husband's death in a
hospice. Her husband had been in considerable pain and the
family had worked with the hospice to provide care which they were
very happy about.
On one occasion, however, a nurse requested the family leave
while she provided a bed bath for the man. When they heard him
screaming they returned to see what was happening, but again the
nurse requested they leave, which the family found very
distressing.
Following the man's death, his wife lodged a complaint with the
hospital about the care provided by the nurse. She was contacted by
a manager and invited to meet to discuss her concerns. The
complainant sought advocacy support, and prior to the meeting they
discussed the meeting process, what the woman wanted as a result of
the meeting and what support an advocate can provide. The woman was
very clear that she was seeking an apology, and that she wanted the
nurse to either receive further training or to be stopped from
providing care in a hospice.
The manager acknowledged her concerns, provided an assurance
that the nurse would receive further training and offered an
apology. The consumer was happy with the outcome.
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Hospice think tank helps achieve
resolution
A woman whose husband had recently died at the local hospice
after a long illness contacted an advocate about her concerns. She
had kept an up-to-date journal recording her concerns about her
husband's care. Despite the concerns, she made it clear that
without exception all the hospice staff had been kind and
caring.
Her concerns included:
- incorrect prescribing and delivery of medications on a number
of occasions
- A lack of careful observation and basic nursing care
- A repeated failure to meet her husband's needs causing
unnecessary and avoidable distress to them both
She had only contacted advocacy after receiving a poor response
to her letter to the Hospice Manager. She felt they had failed to
own the problem, had minimised her concerns and had not even
reviewed their processes.
She wanted to be reassured that the problems she and her husband
had encountered would not happen again.
During the period of working with advocacy and considering her
options, the hospice rang to invite her to be part of a think tank
meeting. They thanked her for being the catalyst in setting up this
meeting which was to look at all their processes to see what could
be improved. For this person it was a much-needed affirmation that
her concerns were validated and her complaint had been heard.
Although the advocate, in this instance, did nothing more than
speak with her on a number of occasions, the woman made it very
clear that having someone on her side at a very difficult time had
helped her have confidence in the complaint process as well as with
grieving..
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