Brian Walsh (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for selecting this matter and the Minister for Health, Deputy Leo Varadkar, for making the effort to attend to take it. The Minister is very familiar with this issue which I have raised with him on a number of occasions. I have been working on the plight of the Galway Hospice for the past three years and in that time have met with the Minister's predecessor. I have also met with other members of Government, senior HSE officials and the Secretary General of the Department of Health, but Deputy Varadkar is the first person who really gets to the nub of the issue and appreciates the challenges faced by Galway Hospice. I mean that sincerely and it is very encouraging that we have a Minister who takes that view.

Galway Hospice is the only hospice in Ireland that has been accredited by the International Society for Quality in Healthcare and the only one in Europe which has received an international quality award for outstanding achievement in the delivery of health care. The fact that it has achieved both of these awards against a backdrop of chronic underfunding is testament to the dedication, commitment and professionalism of the staff working at the hospice. Galway Hospice receives proportionately the lowest amount of funding of any specialist palliative care unit in the State. It is underresourced in other areas also. For example, Milford Hospice in Limerick, which is the closest hospice to Galway Hospice, has 7.2 occupational therapist posts and 4.5 palliative physiotherapist posts. By comparison, Galway Hospice has one occupational therapist and no palliative physiotherapist. As a result of this underfunding, Galway Hospice does not have the capacity to provide vital services and is constrained in its ability to meet demand. Patients are occupying precious and scarce acute hospital beds who should be availing of either the inpatient unit at Galway Hospice or, better again, having care provided by the Galway Hospice home care service in the comfort of their own homes.

The extent of the problem is reflected in the fact that almost 50% of all deaths that take place in the acute hospital in Galway are cancer related. By comparison, the figure at the closest hospital to ours, which is Limerick General Hospital, is 18% as there is a properly funded hospice service at Milford. That obviously puts a strain on University Hospital Galway as well as forcing patients to receive end-of-life care in an inappropriate and undesirable environment. While there are plans afoot to deal with the capacity shortage at the inpatient unit, the more immediate challenge is to deal with the explosion in demand for hospice services, particularly home care services.

5 o’clock

In 2011 there were 162 discharges from the acute hospital to Galway Hospice. Last year the figure was 363 and it is expected to increase again this year. The system is at near breaking point. The time for the Government to provide additional resources is long past.

One weekend last month there were five patients in the acute hospital in Galway who were approved for discharge to the home care services provided by Galway Hospice. Four of these patients were not discharged because of capacity issues in the home care services. One patient - luckily for him - is a resident of north County Clare and was discharged because he could avail of services provided by Milford Hospice. The Minister knows that the cost of the provision of an acute bed is estimated to be in the region of €1,000 per night. A person availing of home care services could avail of up to ten home care visits for the same resource. This matter is in urgent need of attention.

There is a very negative impact on staff morale. There has been a change in the dynamic between the public and hospice staff and there is now hostility in some cases towards hospice staff because of their inability to provide services. This issue urgently needs the Minister's attention and I look forward to his response.

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