Patients' protection Dying inadequate

Welthospiztag: Patients call for better terminal care

12/10/2014

On the occasion of the World Hospice Day, patient advocates have called for an improvement in terminal care in Germany. Only 15 percent of the 870,000 dying people experience such support. Almost every third German wants to die in a hospice.

Only 15 percent experience professional dying care
On the occasion of the World Hospice Day on Saturday (motto: „For the expansion of hospice and palliative care“) Patients have called for a rapid expansion of mobile terminal care in Germany. According to calculations by the World Health Organization (WHO), 60 percent of the seriously ill would need professional care. But only 15 percent of the annually 870,000 dying would have actually experienced such an accompaniment, as Eugen Brysch from the German Foundation for Patient Protection in Dortmund told the news agency dpa.

Masterplan required
The Foundation is calling for a Master Plan with the development of professional, mobile terminal care and the introduction of a special care level for the dying. The foundation estimates the costs at one billion euros per year. According to Brysch, the money would be well spent, since today a multiple would have to be paid for unnecessary chemotherapy or surgery. A personal care level is needed and the social funds would have to provide an additional 5,000 euros per month for the last weeks of life. Brysch calls on the federal government to act: At least half of those affected must get this help within five years.

Organize around-the-clock care
After the presentation of the foundation, outpatient services should take over the main part of the terminal care. The 200 teams of specialized outpatient palliative care would have to be doubled quickly. The teams of doctors, nurses and therapists could organize round-the-clock care when needed. In Brandenburg, the statutory health insurance companies announced a few months ago that their support for hospice work was increased this year. Accordingly, 1.2 million euros were transferred to outpatient hospice services.

Almost every third person wants to die in the hospice
Just a few months ago, in a representative survey conducted by the Center for Quality in Nursing (ZQP), almost one in three respondents nationwide (27 percent) said they wanted to die in a hospice. The United States is currently discussing the planned death of a seriously ill woman. Brittany Maynard, suffering from an incurable brain tumor, had announced that she would end her life on November 1st. In Germany is one „killing on demand“ not allowed by law. Demands, such as from the German Patients' Protection Foundation, can help to accompany terminally ill people as well as possible in their final weeks. (Ad)