The Aberdeen Palliative Care Society welcomed Doctors Nova Scotia’s 10 recommendations for fixing end-of-life care in the province Thursday.
“It’s a step in the right direction to put focus on the support we need in the community,” said Dr. Anne Kwasnik, medical director for the Aberdeen Hospital’s Palliative Care Unit, in a statement.
Doctors Nova Scotia’s 10 recommendations include distributing palliative care services equitably and ensuring access to residential hospice facilities in areas large enough to support them. Patients should have palliative care or hospice beds to provide an alternative to hospitalization for people if their end-of-life care needs cannot be met at home.
Other recommendations include giving doctors adequate compensation for providing end-of-life care, providing adequate training and rolling out palliative care education for all aspiring and current doctors, including residencies.
Doctors NS also wants physicians to have access to multi-disciplinary palliative care teams, have proper support in place for those providing such care to patients, as well as guidelines to identify patients who will benefit from a palliative approach.
The organization says that the roles and core responsibilities of all palliative care professionals must be properly defined.
Lastly, Doctors NS wants doctors to be properly consulted about the monitoring of the province’s Physician Resource Plan to ensure palliative care resources are distributed equitably, based on population demographics and increased needs.
“Doctors Nova Scotia supports the Nova Scotia Integrated Palliative Care Strategy and, along with its members, is positioned to play a critical role in its implementation,” said Doctors NS president Dr. Manoj Vohra in a release Thursday.
“If we are to be successful in providing palliative care to all those requiring it, we must work together to ensure resources are adequately distributed and responsive to increasing need.”
Doctors NS says that palliative care is no longer reserved for those close to death. Health professionals across the globe realize that a palliative approach to care can improve quality of life, reduce suffering and lower health-care costs when introduced early on in a life-threatening or terminal illness.
The recommendations come as both Nova Scotia and Atlantic Canada as a whole face an aging population and high rates of chronic illness.
As such, the demand for palliative care services provided by general practitioners and specialists will increase significantly, according to Doctors NS.
The group’s recommendations come during National Palliative Care Week.
Doctors NS itself represents more than 3,500 members. Membership includes practising and retired physicians, medical students and residents.
