Hospital.Help

Berlin/Aachen The future of palliative care is not secured. The German Society for Palliative Medicine (DGP) warned of this today at the start of its 15th congress in Aachen.

In the current draft of the Hospital Care Improvement Act, neither the palliative care needs in palliative wards are adequately reflected, nor are the palliative services, which are particularly important for hospitals without a palliative ward, found there, emphasized DGP President Claudia Bausewein to the press.

In the future, there would be a risk that seriously ill patients in normal and intensive care units would not receive adequate palliative care. We are already seeing a decline in the number of palliative care units and fear that this will worsen as part of the upcoming hospital reform due to an incorrectly low level of care needs, said Bausewein.

Palliative services in hospitals, which also look after palliative patients in normal and intensive care units and can thus contribute to the early integration of palliative care, were not taken into account at all as a key figure for determining inpatient needs in the hospital reform, complained the re-elected DGP President.

Suicide prevention is still not financially included in the federal budget. Palliative care makes a significant contribution to suicide prevention and also to the prevention of assisted suicide in people with progressive illnesses and at the end of life, explained Bausewein. However, people with life-limiting illnesses and wishes to die and die are only one target group of the absolutely and urgently necessary national and comprehensive suicide prevention.

The DGP also sees deficits in outpatient palliative care. We need to pay more attention to emergency care: There is a lack of a link to ad hoc palliative care when emergency doctors encounter seriously ill people, said DGP managing director Heiner Melching. They are often taken to hospital, although they can stay at home with palliative care.

The leitmotif of this year’s DGP congress is value (appreciation). Self-care. Together. This illustrates the idea of ​​caring communities. This is only possible with a high level of participation from committed citizens in conjunction with local municipal and professional structures, said Congress President Veronika Schnhofer-Nellessen.

It is important to build a bridge to the public and to provide those interested with professionally competent information about palliative care and options for supporting seriously ill people, added Congress President Roman Rolke. © ER/aerzteblatt.de