Proposed Midlands Hospice in Tullamore ''hugely important development for patients and their families'' says HSE Consultant

A Palliative Medicine Consultant for the Health Service Executive says that having a specialist palliative care inpatient unit in the Midlands will mean that local specialist palliative care teams will have the full range of services available to patients.

Dr Pauline Kane, made her comments in a statement issued by the HSE in conjunction with the recent submission of a planning application for a Midland's Hospice to be located in Tullamore.

Dr Kane said, ''the Midlands Hospice will give the specialist palliative care service the ability to provide intensive symptom support and multi-disciplinary input to patients with challenging symptoms in a more appropriate environment than an acute hospital. This is a hugely important development for our patients and their families to have this facility and we are looking forward to it becoming a reality very soon,'' she said.

The HSE says the main features of the proposed hospice will be a ''much needed'' 20 bed specialist palliative care inpatient unit, a Day Therapy Unit and an education centre. ''Because of its location and the size of the site, there will be extensive landscaping of the grounds, and each inpatient bedroom will be on the ground floor with direct access to an individual outdoor area.''

Palliative care is a form of holistic care which improves the quality of life of patients who have challenges associated with life-threatening illness, including physical, psychological, social or spiritual. While palliative care was initially available to patients with cancer, AIDS or Motor Neuron Disease, it is now available for all patients with chronic, progressive conditions with a limited prognosis, and can be accessed much earlier in a patient’s illness, rather than just in the last days of life.

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The services of the hospice will primarily be available to patients living in all four Midlands counties: Laois, Offaly, Longford and Westmeath.

''Having the Midlands Hospice will provide our local specialist palliative care teams with a full range of inpatient and day services locally. This will enable the specialist management of patients with difficult symptoms in a more appropriate environment for terminally ill patients rather than an acute hospital, without the need to attend the Emergency Department.''

The HSE says it would like to thank the following groups (in alphabetical order): Hooves for Hospice, Irish Hospice Foundation, Laois Hospice, Longford Hospice, North Westmeath Hospice, Offaly Hospice and South Westmeath Hospice, and also it would like to thank local public representatives who have supported this from across the Midlands and the Department of Health.