By MEGAN OGLE
A FORMER volunteer has slammed the Sunshine Hospice board, saying the community has been left behind.
Cooroy local Clytie Glass said she was upset the Sunshine Hospice board, formerly known as Katie Rose Cottage, had not looked to the community for more support before its closure late last year.
“In the past three years, there has been little, if any, interaction between the charity and the community, other than through the opportunity shops,” Ms Glass said.
“Previously, various volunteers visited service clubs, sporting clubs; we had stalls at various venues to raise awareness and funds. To the best of my knowledge, little if any of this has been done in recent years.”
However, Sunshine Hospice chairman Frank Lewins said while the support from the community in the forms of bequests and support for the local opportunity shops was impressive, it was not enough to sustain the operations of providing quality palliative care to the people of the Sunshine Coast, which, he says, led to the decision to temporarily cease operations in December 2015.
“While the current fund-raising support we receive from the community is a great credit to the passion and commitment of the people of the Sunshine Coast, it is not enough to sustain the operations of a hospice in its own right,” he said.
Ms Glass said the Sunshine Hospice board was aware of the dire financial position before closing its doors, but chose to “leave it to the last minute” before seeking help.
However, Dr Lewins said the donation of two significant bequests in former years had been allowing the hospice to continue to operate, despite inadequate new revenue being raised to meet expenses.
“The bequests were wonderful, and gratefully received, but in effect they delayed the reality check that the hospice needed to have about the best-practice models for operating a high-quality, community-based, financially viable hospice in a regional area,” he said.
Ms Glass said she believed the board’s plans to build a private hospital would mean a departure from the community model which the Katie Rose Cottage was well known for.
“Going down the private hospital path is not only expensive to build and set up, it is expensive to run, even with government funding, and it completely destroys the ethos of the original model,” she said.
Dr Lewins said the board was currently utilising emergency funding provided by the government late last year to investigate the most strategic and financially sustainable option for a community-based hospice for the people of the Sunshine Coast.
The one-off grant of $100,000 from the Queensland Government was provided to fund the development of a financial plan, fund-raising strategies and advancement towards the accreditation of the centre in keeping with National Palliative Care Standards.
“We are considering a range of options, including models being employed to great effect by highly successful, community-based hospices elsewhere in south east Queensland,” Dr Lewins said.
“These hospices have retained their commitment to and integrity as community-based hospices, while simultaneously achieving private hospital facility licences that allow them to access additional funding sources.
“If we decide to progress down the path of becoming eligible for a private hospital licence, we do not envisage it will be an easy task, but success would result in a standard of facility and continuation of care that the people of the Sunshine Coast deserve.”
Dr Lewins said the board had not given up hope on securing recurrent government funding from state or federal governments, something he says other community-based hospices in Queensland have been able to call upon to ensure operations continue.
According to Dr Lewins, the Sunshine Hospice board is continuing its investigations, research and modelling into “successful, community-based regional hospice models” throughout May and June, with a recommended plan for next steps to be in place by the end of the financial year.
Dr Lewins said that once a model that was financially sustainable had been identified, consultation with members and the broader community regarding locations, operations and any requirements associated with operational and facility enhancements would commence.
“The people of the Sunshine Coast deserve a high quality, community-based, home-away-from-home hospice that is sustainable for generations to come. We intend to find a way to deliver it,” Dr Lewins said.
