Skip to content
The Catholic Leader
  • Home
  • News
    • QLD
    • Australia
    • Regional
    • Education
    • World
    • Vatican
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Life
    • Family
    • Relationships
    • Faith
  • Culture
  • People
  • Subscribe
  • Jobs
  • Contribute
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • QLD
    • Australia
    • Regional
    • Education
    • World
    • Vatican
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Life
    • Family
    • Relationships
    • Faith
  • Culture
  • People
  • Subscribe
  • Jobs
  • Contribute
No Result
View All Result
The Catholic Leader
No Result
View All Result
Home News

Care for the dying needs attention

byStaff writers
22 April 2012 - Updated on 16 March 2021
Reading Time: 3 mins read
AA
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

CATHOLIC Health Australia’s (CHA) call for the right of society’s most vulnerable and marginalised people to have access to palliative care has been supported by Queensland’s peak body in the field.

Palliative Care Queensland (PCQ) also expressed hope that “with the LNP now in power, the State Government will begin to see ‘palliative care’ and the care of dying Queenslanders as a priority”.

CHA, in a submission to a Federal Government Senate Inquiry into palliative care, said a person “living with a disability, mental illness or in prison is just as entitled to receive quality care at the end of their life as any other member of the population”.

PCQ chief executive officer John-Paul Kristensen, in supporting the CHA’s call, said funding to such services had not kept pace with mainstream demand let alone the special needs of the marginalised.

“South-east Queensland has long been a destination of choice for retirees in search of a warmer climate and it now has one of fastest-growing populations of Australians over the age of 65,” he said.

“With referrals to specialist palliative care services increasing by as much as 25 per year in Queensland, it is imperative that the Government provides significant additional funding to the sector, as well as developing a statewide plan for palliative care.

“This plan must incorporate a new and more effective mechanism for funding service delivery.

“Without additional funding to the palliative care sector in Queensland, we cannot ensure that all Queenslanders will have access to the specialist care required to provide dignified and comfortable deaths.”

CHA chief executive officer Martin Laverty said “care for people on the margins of society gets to the heart of what Catholic health and aged care was created to deliver”.

“In rural and remote communities, in indigenous communities, in paediatrics and in culturally and linguistically diverse populations we find people not being appropriately treated towards the end of their lives,” he said.

Related Stories

Gwen has given 15,000 hours of cuddles to sick and premature babies

Helping stroke survivors earns Ozcare volunteer national recognition

Br Alan Moss remembered for a life of faith and learning

“These people deserve better.”

CHA’s submission to the Senate Inquiry said among palliative care issues needing to be addressed were:

•the current lack of national standards for people approaching the end of life
•the need for additional investment in specialist palliative care services
•the need for greater integration of palliative care into other areas of health service delivery and
•a general lack of understanding of what constitutes palliative care.

“There is much work to be done, but we believe the roadmap we have outlined goes some way to providing a way forward, rather than simply giving a litany of shortcomings,” Mr Laverty said.

Mr Laverty and Mr Kristensen’s comments came in the lead-up to preparations for next month’s National Palliative Care Week.

A Sunshine Coast community forum, Your Death Your Choice, will be held as the week opens on May 19.

PCQ president Associate Professor Rohan Vora warned that some of the forum presentations would be confronting.
He said this was essential to provide an opportunity to demystify the process of death, as well as discuss the reasons why many Queenslanders still died without having their pain well managed.

“The problem is that funding to palliative care services in Queensland has not kept pace with the growing referral rates, therefore there is much less funding available to us to ensure that people die comfortable, dignified deaths,” he said.

“Are we really surprised that most Queenslanders support physician-assisted suicide when our current system cannot provide adequate care?”

The Federal Government’s Senate Inquiry, which opened last November, will report its findings on September 12.

 

ShareTweet
Previous Post

Italian youth lose their locks for charity

Next Post

Reception liturgy for Archbishop explained

Staff writers

Related Posts

Gwen has given 15,000 hours of cuddles to sick and premature babies
QLD

Gwen has given 15,000 hours of cuddles to sick and premature babies

20 May 2022
Helping stroke survivors earns Ozcare volunteer national recognition
QLD

Helping stroke survivors earns Ozcare volunteer national recognition

20 May 2022
Br Alan Moss remembered for a life of faith and learning
QLD

Br Alan Moss remembered for a life of faith and learning

19 May 2022
Next Post

Reception liturgy for Archbishop explained

Obligation on Church to speak up

Aboriginal digger finally honoured

Popular News

  • Angel’s Kitchen serves hot meals to the hungry in Southport

    Angel’s Kitchen serves hot meals to the hungry in Southport

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Nationwide rosary event happening for Australia’s patroness this Saturday

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Queensland election: The pro-life political parties committed to abortion law reforms

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Br Alan Moss remembered for a life of faith and learning

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Here are the stories of 10 new saints being canonised this Sunday

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
Search our job finder
No Result
View All Result

Latest News

Gwen has given 15,000 hours of cuddles to sick and premature babies
QLD

Gwen has given 15,000 hours of cuddles to sick and premature babies

by Joe Higgins
20 May 2022
0

BRISBANE grandmother Gwendoline Grant has clocked up 15,000 hours cuddling and caring for sick and premature babies...

Helping stroke survivors earns Ozcare volunteer national recognition

Helping stroke survivors earns Ozcare volunteer national recognition

20 May 2022
Br Alan Moss remembered for a life of faith and learning

Br Alan Moss remembered for a life of faith and learning

19 May 2022
Catholic relationship advisers offer five tips to look after your mental health

Nationwide rosary event happening for Australia’s patroness this Saturday

19 May 2022
Francis offers advice on politics: Seek unity, don’t get lost in conflict

Francis offers advice on politics: Seek unity, don’t get lost in conflict

19 May 2022

Never miss a story. Sign up to the Weekly Round-Up
eNewsletter now to receive headlines directly in your email.

Sign up to eNews
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Jobs
  • Subscribe

The Catholic Leader is an Australian award-winning Catholic newspaper that has been published by the Archdiocese of Brisbane since 1929. Our journalism seeks to provide a full, accurate and balanced Catholic perspective of local, national and international news while upholding the dignity of the human person.

Copyright © All Rights Reserved The Catholic Leader
Accessibility Information | Privacy Policy | Archdiocese of Brisbane

The Catholic Leader acknowledges Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as the First Peoples of this country and especially acknowledge the traditional owners on whose lands we live and work throughout the Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • QLD
    • Australia
    • Regional
    • Education
    • World
    • Vatican
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Life
    • Family
    • Relationships
    • Faith
  • Culture
  • People
  • Subscribe
  • Jobs
  • Contribute

Copyright © All Rights Reserved The Catholic Leader

0
    0
    Your Cart
    Your cart is emptyChoose another Subscription
    Continue Shopping