Labor lifeline for sinking hospice

LABOR candidate for Wide Bay Lucy Stanton calls on politics and extra funding to save Katie Rose.
Ms Stanton has weighed in on the local issue of the Sunshine Hospice, formally known as Katie Rose Cottage, saying politics may be the answer.
“The community has demonstrated their clear support for the Sunshine Hospice’s re-opening by attending a fund-raising concert in May at the Good Shepherd Lutheran College hall in Noosaville, Let me say it was a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon but, sadly, I was the only political invitee who thought to attend and get solidly behind the concept of a community hospice,” Ms Stanton said.
“There is a problem which won’t go away. The Sunshine Hospice needs political support and action to make re-opening a reality.”
Ms Stanton said the hospice had been forced to seek recurrent or ongoing funding to meet a substantial shortfall, and to be eligible to receive government funding and private health insurance rebates, the hospice would have to become a private hospital.
“This is a huge burden and a completely unnecessary requirement to demand such accreditation. Not only does it force excessive administrative reporting burdens on staff, but it will require a new purpose-built facility before re-opening,” Ms Stanton said.
“I am left asking, ‘what’s the point of a hospice if it has to look, feel and smell like a hospital?’”
Ms Stanton said palliative care policy in Australia “exhibits a lack of innovative thinking” and reform is needed to improve quality of care and reduce costs.
“Right now, many Australians are not able to choose their care arrangements. The overwhelming evidence is we want to die away from a hospital yet most are forced to accept otherwise and things are getting worse,” Ms Stanton said.
“Federal Labor will invest in improving palliative care, with a new approach headlined by $21.7 million for new Palliative Care at Home packages and $9 million to roll out the Proactive Palliative Care model, which will fund specialists to partner with residential aged care facilities to promote palliative and end-of-life care.
“A community hospice is where people would prefer to spend their last days, when it is not possible to be cared for at home, still surrounded by loved ones in a peaceful environment. The whole idea of a hospice is for it to look, feel and smell different.”