It has taken a while but the Queensland Hansard has been updated to reflect the testimony of the Mount Isa public hearing into the Inquiry into Aged Care, End-of-Life and Palliative Care and Voluntary Assisted Dying.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The hearing was held on May 31 and I attended some of the hearing.
Afterwards I told the story of Rory Shonhan who lost both his parents to cancer and watched them die in unimaginable pain.
Mr Shonhan asked the heartbreaking question, "We can put our animals down, why can't we do it for our loved ones?"
It was heart-wrenching stuff but it wasn't the only evidence presented at the inquiry.
The North West Hospital and Health Service was represented by Michelle Garner, Executive Director, Nursing Services and Dr Karen Murphy, Executive Director, Medical Services.
Ms Garner told the Inquiry the NWHHS had a dedicated palliative care service and contracted Blue Care nursing services to provide the hours of care.
"We aim to make sure that our patients who want to stay at home do, and we have the flexibility to make that happen," she told the Inquiry.
She said it was more challenging in some of the remote communities, particularly around management of pain relief.
Dr Murphy told the Inquiry palliative management could last for a lengthy period of time and not necessarily at the very end of life.
"We are talking of patients who have chronic terminal conditions that could be requiring management at fluctuating levels of care, intervention, acute presentation and non-acute presentation and intervention for a number of years," she said. "That is a really big challenge for any healthcare provider to manage."
She said half of their hospital presentations are patients over 65 and that presented the challenge of how to help that patient in their journey.
"We struggle to retain and attract staff. Some of that is about the area and remoteness," she said.
The inquiry required to report back to the parliament on November 30, 2019.
We will report more of the Hansard testimony in coming editions - Derek Barry
Derek Barry
Editor of the North West Star Mount Isa since January 2016. Prior to that, an editor at several regional southern Queensland newspapers. Passionate about telling local stories. Comes with a strange accent to due an Irish accident of birth.
Editor of the North West Star Mount Isa since January 2016. Prior to that, an editor at several regional southern Queensland newspapers. Passionate about telling local stories. Comes with a strange accent to due an Irish accident of birth.
