Palliative care in focus

Hospice funding & stand alone facility in the spotlight

No expression better sums up Mount Gambier’s In Home Hospice Care (IHHC) service than ‘running on the smell of an oily rag’.

Palliative care remains in the spotlight again as the IHHC continues its campaign for a consistent funding model through government coffers and the working party looking at establishing a hospice facility in the city continues its planning for getting the project off the ground.

Earlier this month the State Government announced a review of South Australia’s palliative care services, and while local advocates will keep one eye on those proceedings, their funding campaign; fundraising and hospice facility project are well underway and will continue unabated.

Local palliative care advocate Maureen Klintberg (pictured right) said a sustainable funding model for the well-utilised IHHC service was priority one with the 2022 South Australian health and Wellbeing grant now fully utilised and the Hospital Research Foundation grant of $74,000 not kicking in for several weeks.

“That grant will cover us for the second half of the year but we do need to dip into community donated reserve funds in the mean time to keep the service running,” Maureen said.

“We are so fortunate that we have had generous individual donations.

“People often have contributed following their own experience or becoming aware of the supported care in the home approaching end of life.

“Several groups, community groups, have also donated money and we have held a couple of fundraisers.”

Once such fundraiser is on the calendar for this Thursday and it is under the leadership of local fundraising icon Lois Bayre, of Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea fame.

The afternoon tea function at Casadio Park will run from 1.30- 4pm and Lois is hoping for a crowd of 300-plus.

The afternoon will include an auction, which has a couple of wonderful accommodation packages on offer, as well as some unique audiences with local civic leaders including Troy Bell and Ben Hood among its big ticket items.

The CEO of Palliative Care SA Shyla Mills (pictured below) will also be the guest speaker at Thursday’s event, which is a $25 a head function, and while tickets sold fast you can contact Lois on (08)8725 5968 to see if you can claim a last minute seat.

But as helpful and appreciated as these community fundraising efforts are, a sustainable, ongoing funding model just has to be sourced and secured.

“We have continued to advocate to the government for ongoing funding,” Maureen said. “We need that continuity of base funding so we can have confidence to develop and make future plans.

“It would give confidence not only to the community but to our staff and volunteers.

“The IHHC service has proven to be invaluable to the community and has been acknowledged as valuable by the Limestone Coast Health Network and the department of Health and Wellbeing through their evaluations that took place last year.”

The service currently has 34 volunteers on its books which is a combination of in home volunteers, as well as those that volunteer in office administration and seven management committee members.

The IHHC has three part time staff, including the grief and loss counsellor that is a role funded by the Masonic Charities and the service currently supports nine clients and has been supporting 19 families.

“Our battle for funding is progressing through Troy Bell’s office,” Maureen said.

And while that battle continues, the plans for a purpose-built hospice facility in Mount Gambier is also a work in progress, with the next item on the working party’s agenda being a feasibility study and the development of concept drawings.

“We are also on the constant look out for an available, suitable parcel of land,” Maureen said. We have decided it will probably be better to have a new build and not develop an existing property.”

Plans are also in the works for a community meeting, sooner rather than later, with Diane Wright OAM, who has been at the coalface of palliative care.

Diane t was awarded an OAM for her tireless contribution to community health, particularly through her establishment of the Anam Cara hospices in Geelong and Colac, and her pastoral care work at Mercy Place Colac for more than a decade.

That Colac facility is , in fact, the facility proving to be the best model for a facility in Mount Gambier, although Maureen has also visited the Geelong facility and state-of-the-art models in Queensland to ensure we take the best bits of all comparable facilities to create our own.

The hospice would offer short term respite as well as end of life care. It is all about creating a home away from home for patients and their loved ones.

IHHC is also on the lookout for new administration headquarters and would love to hear from anyone who might have a small, affordable office space available.