Tullamore launch for new alliance of hospice groups
By Rebekah O'Reilly
The official launch of the new Midlands Palliative Care Alliance (MPCA) will take place in Tullamore this Monday.
Taking place in the Bridge House Hotel, Tullamore at 3pm on Monday, September 7, the launch of the MPCA marks a landmark collaboration between five independent hospice groups serving Laois, Longford, Offaly, North Westmeath and South Westmeath.
Offaly Hospice Foundation is one of the alliance's five members, along with Longford Hospice Homecare CLG; Laois Hospice Foundation; North Westmeath Hospice; and South Westmeath Hospice.
The alliance is designed to establish a united voice to advocate for equitable, high-quality palliative care across the Midlands.
The launch is taking place during Palliative Care Week, an annual national awareness campaign led by the All-Ireland Institute of Hospice and Palliative Care, which takes place from September 6 to 12.
The key theme for this year is “It’s Not What You Think”, which aims to dispel persistent misconceptions about palliative care and encourage more people to access vital services which allow people to live as well as possible for as long as possible.
The MPCA involves ten representatives, two from each of the five hospice groups, with the chairperson operating on a rotating basis.
"It's a very democratic, open group, with a singular purpose of equity for everybody in the region," said the current chair of Midlands Palliative Care Alliance and member of North Westmeath Hospice, Veronica Larkin.
Ms Larkin said the idea for the Alliance began over two years ago, when the conversation around the greater need for palliative care for people with end-of-life needs arose.
"In the beginning, it used to be patients with cancer, but now it is for all people with life-limiting illnesses. The breadth of the work has changed for clinicians, and the number of people needing it, from our perspective, has increased," Ms Larkin explained.
"The Midlands is known for its palliative home-care, but there are also now a number of Level 2 beds around the region. We were all working in separately with the HSE, and we decided it would be much better to work together, because it became apparent that there wasn't the same level of service right across the region."
Speaking about they key aims of the MPCA, Ms Larkin said the group will seek to provide equity of access and service, support for rural communities, as well as the sharing of ideas for fundraising initiatives.
"It doesn't matter where you are in Longford, Westmeath, Laois, or Offaly, you're entitled to the same level of care and service," she said.
"We wanted to support each other when it comes to bureaucracy, to ensure no area is getting more or less than another area. We're all in the business for the same reason, to improve access to palliative care and the communities' understanding of what palliative care is, and make it part of our community.
"We want to support people in rural areas, so that they can get the same level of care as somebody living in a town. We would have patient comfort funds, and we want to be in a position to help people financially, when they're seeing the palliative care team and their social worker, especially with the cost-of-living rising.
"Most importantly, each hospice will still hold their own autonomy going forward, the Alliance doesn't overrule that. It is still the prerogative of each group to have their own agenda - but where we can, we merge and work together for a common agenda. It's more about sharing ideas, and then when it comes to the HSE, we can drive forward together."
The MPCA also enabled each of the hospices to get involved with the All Ireland Institute for Palliative Care.
"All five hospices decided together to become members of the All Ireland Institute for Palliative Care, and it's important, but it was too expensive for each hospice to do on their own," Ms Larkin said.
"This is a big thing, because they are discussing and influencing policy, decision making, and education in palliative care. It's very important that, with all the new developments happening, that we stay in the loop."
Ms Larkin said another big issue for hospices around the country is attracting younger volunteers.
"Many of us are getting older. I was heartened at a recent meeting in Mullingar to see new younger members had joined. Those younger members are really delighted to hear that bigger vision that's coming forward for the Midlands region," she commented.