Families with terminally ill members still don't have access to rest facilities in West Auckland, says Valerie Schuler
Help is achingly out of reach of those caring for terminally ill family members. Respite care offers them a break, but an ongoing shortage of beds means such rest is sometimes far away.
A shortage of palliative care respite beds in Waitemata District Health Board's area was highlighted by The Aucklander this year. That shortage forced people from West Auckland and Hibiscus Coast to travel to the North Shore Hospice. Barbara Williams, of West Auckland Hospice, says the people of West Auckland want access to the service in their own area. Back in February, the health board said it was "discussing more funding to make beds available". An answer was expected within one month. That was nearly three months ago. So why the delays? "It seems as if there is some confusion here. The modelling work to identify the funding and bed numbers is what we were referring to," says health board spokeswoman Bryony Hilless. "There was never an undertaking that actual beds would be available within this time frame." It appears delays have been ongoing. Minutes of this month's health board Community and Public Health Advisory committee meeting reveal a further 16 beds were planned for 2006. The minutes say considerable progress had been made in many areas, with one exception being "additional inpatient respite beds". Mrs Williams says the process has taken so long because "to get the best outcome, time is needed to evaluate what is really needed".
