By Florence Afriyie Mensah, GNA
Kumasi Oct. 29, GNA – The Palliative Care Unit of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH), has appealed to management of the hospital and other stakeholders to help create more working spaces as its services are expanding very fast.
Palliative care is a specialized medical care that focuses on relieving pain, symptoms and stress from serious illnesses to improve the quality of life for patients and their families.
Dr Emmanuel Ati, Head of the Family Medicine Directorate of KATH, who made the appeal at the 10th anniversary celebration of the Unit in Kumasi, explained that “we need enough space for palliative care services, most of the times we see relatives standing outside while they wait for care.
We are appealing to management to help create enough space to run smooth services”, he added.
The other challenge, he noted, was inadequate personnel, adding that “the service is expanding very fast, now palliative care has extended to the wards, but we don’t have enough specialists, the hope is that we get more nurses who are interested in palliative care.
Dr Ati said the Directorate prioritized palliative care and was ready to receive more dedicated nurses and doctors.
Diving into the Unit’s operations in the last decade, he explained that, care for people with advanced and life-threatening illnesses were often provided in a fragmented manner by professionals as the need arose.
There was therefore, a clear need for a structured and more coordinated approach to addressing the physical, psychological, social and spiritual needs of these patients and their families.
Over the years the service has grown to provide pain relief and comfort to the increasing number of patients with advanced cancer and other life-limiting illnesses, paediatric quality care service, pain and other center management, emotional and psycho-social support.
Other support included disease discussion to help patients and families understand the builders, its progression and available options, advanced health planning, care of the caregiver support and home-based care, spiritual support and bereavement care among others.
Dr Ati noted that, despite the progress made in care, the Unit needed a dedicated van for home care services since most of the patients could not visit the hospital anymore.
He explained that all over the world, palliative care was provided by donations from individuals and organizations adding that, most patients could not afford their care, due to their inability to work anymore.
The Directorate’s plan therefore, is to establish a palliative care fund to help raise money to take care of its patients for free.
He called on the government to make palliative care easily accessible under the National Health Insurance Scheme, citing that, morphine, a commonly used medication, be covered.
Dr Ati appealed for palliative care services to be included in the Ghana Medical Trust Fund to help raise money to take care of the patients.
Professor Yaw Ampem Amoako, Medical Director, KATH said management would collaborate with the unit to identify a space to be used as a chapel or meditating space adding that, the hospital was committed to helping the unit to make compassionate palliative care accessible to everyone who needed it regardless of age, location or financial circumstance.
GNA
Edited by Kwabia Owusu-Mensah/Kenneth Odeng Adade
Reporter: Florence Afriyie Mensah
Email: [email protected]