International experts have praised palliative care in Kerry in a new report stating that services in this county could be used as a template nationally.
HSE Cork/Kerry Community Healthcare commissioned the report with the objective of learning from the development of palliative care services in Kerry.
The authors praised the work culture and environment of Kerry Specialist Palliative Care Service.
Palliative care involves the care of people living with a serious illness, frequently those who are facing the end of life.
Kerry Specialist Palliative Care Service was chosen for the study because of its perception as a good example of integrated care practice with the purpose to find out what had made it successful and widely accepted and valued in the county.
The report was written by authors from the International Foundation for Integrated Care which has its headquarters in the Netherlands,
University Hospital Cologne in Germany, the University of Cologne, and UCD.
The report’s authors found the reasons for the service's success included strong local leadership, collaboration between local services including volunteers and the State, a sense of ownership and pride in local palliative services, and effective fundraising through the Kerry Hospice Foundation.
The authors praised Kerry Specialist Palliative Care Service for providing the same standard of care in the community and at home as in the inpatient unit at UHK.
Service users shared their experience in the report; one person said, ‘you weren’t just a number to them, they cared.’
The report said that members of the palliative care service in Kerry shared a flexible approach to their role beyond what was in their job description and that the team also had a good relationship with other areas of the health service.
It also found there's low staff turnover in Kerry Specialist Palliative Care Service.
