Derry's Foyle Hospice welcomes cross-party MLAs to explore future of specialist palliative and end-of-life care
Derry’s Foyle Hospice has welcomed a cross-party group of MLAs to its Culmore Road site to discuss how the Assembly’s recent inquiry into access to specialist palliative and end-of-life care can be translated into practical change for patients and families across the Western Trust area.
Three MLAs from Sinn Féin and the SDLP visited the hospice recently, meeting staff from across inpatient, community, day therapy, bereavement and fundraising teams. They heard first-hand about the opportunities and pressures involved in delivering specialist palliative care over one of the most rural and dispersed geographies in Northern Ireland, from Limavady to Enniskillen.
The visit followed the Health Committee’s debate on its inquiry report into access to palliative and end-of-life care, which set out 27 recommendations covering sustainable hospice funding, 24/7 access, anticipatory prescribing and stronger community-based services.
Donall Henderson, Chief Executive of Foyle Hospice, said: “The Health Committee’s inquiry has given us a clear and timely framework for strengthening specialist palliative and end-of-life care across Northern Ireland, and we very much welcome the cross-party commitment behind it. Our priority now is to work constructively with the Minister, the Department, the Committee and our hospice colleagues to turn those recommendations into real, tangible benefits for patients and families.”
"Serving a complex geography from Limavady to Enniskillen, we are well placed to further contribute and refine approaches that could be applied more widely, and we stand ready to play our full part in that collective effort.”
During the visit, MLAs were given an overview of Foyle Hospice’s 40 years of experience in providing specialist palliative care.
This included the inpatient unit, which supports patients with complex needs and helps prevent unnecessary hospital admissions; the specialist community palliative care service, supporting people to remain at home where that is their wish; Healing Hearts, the hospice’s children and adult’s bereavement support service; the day therapy unit, which offers ongoing support for patients living with life limiting illness.
Medical staff outlined how close working relationships between hospice staff, GPs, district nurses and hospital teams are helping to avoid crisis admissions and support timely discharge from hospital.
They also highlighted Foyle Hospice’s experience in delivering anticipatory prescribing, and how learning from this work could inform the implementation of relevant elements of the Minister’s forthcoming work his department has started for palliative and end-of-life care.
Dr Damien McMullan Consultant in Palliative Medicine, said: “As clinicians, we see the growing need for the specialist palliative care services provided by Foyle Hospice to help support patients and families at home or in hospice – from early in their illness right through to end of life care.
"We also see the greatly increased pressures on our colleagues doing their best in emergency departments, in hospital and in primary care. Our team works closely with GPs, district nurses and hospital colleagues to try and prevent avoidable hospital admissions and to help support safer and earlier discharges, but these pressures make this more challenging.
"We urgently need a palliative care strategy and a commissioning and funding framework which recognises the value of joined up community based care, to ensure that we can meet the growing need and address inequity in access to specialist support across the region.”
AnnMarie Casey, Director of Nursing and Clinical Care, said: “Strategically, specialist palliative and end-of-life care can no longer be seen as an optional add-on to the health and social care system. Here in Foyle Hospice we are already providing a continuum of care from diagnosis through to bereavement, across urban neighbourhoods and deeply rural communities. With the right investment, we can build on this foundation to deliver the kind of integrated, person-centred model envisaged in the Health Committee’s report."
"The inquiry gives us a roadmap; what we need now is the political will and resources to implement it.”
Sinn Fein MLA for Foyle, Ciara Ferguson: “We are all so indebted to the Foyle hospice management, staff and volunteers over the past 40 years for their unwavering dedication to clinical excellence and compassionate end-of-life care, ensuring comfort, dignity, and support to our loved ones and families. The current funding model for hospices here is not fit for purpose and it is imperative that Palliative care is prioritised and funded as a core service.”
Staff also described the growing demand for community-based support, including a waiting list for community services, and the particular pressures created by distance, rurality and limited out-of-hours provision.
MLAs saw the hospice gardens and therapeutic spaces, watched short films featuring local families and patients, and heard about the long-term impact of bereavement support on children and adults in the region.
Terri Sythes HR and Administrative Services Manager, said: “In the years I have worked at Foyle Hospice, I have seen demand grow steadily as more people live longer with complex conditions. Families are caring for loved ones at home for longer, often under huge strain, and they rely on the hospice for specialist support, advice and respite. At the same time, the generosity of local people has never faltered – from coffee mornings to community walks, they are the reason we can keep saying ‘yes’ when a referral comes in. They are doing their part; it is vital that the system now does its part too.”
SDLP MLA for Foyle, Sinead McLaughlin said: “It was a privilege to visit Foyle Hospice and to see first-hand the compassion, professionalism and dedication of the staff and volunteers. Their work provides vital comfort and dignity to patients and families, and underlines why sustained support for palliative and end-of-life care is so important across Derry and the north west region.”
SDLP MLA for Foyle, Mark H Durkan said: "The team at Foyle Hospice are nothing short of incredible, they provide a crucial service within our community, giving support during families’ darkest days.
"They provide a huge range of services including vital bereavement support and important work with children and young people who are grieving. They are a crucial cog in the healthcare machine, preventing hospital admissions and helping people to remain at home where possible. It is clear that the current hospice funding model is unsustainable. The Executive must deliver secure, long-term funding to ensure that access to palliative and end-of-life care is protected now and into the future.”
The MLAs also met members of the hospice’s small fundraising team, who explained the scale of voluntary income required each year to sustain services and the increasing difficulty of raising the majority of the hospice’s budget through community and corporate support alone.
Sheila Duffy, Director of Income Generation and Communications at Foyle Hospice, said: “Almost two-thirds of our running costs come from voluntary income – from families, schools, community groups and local businesses who give and fundraise year after year. We are incredibly grateful for that generosity, but it is not sustainable or fair to expect cake sales and sponsored events to carry the majority of the cost of a core health service.
"A more secure, predictable funding settlement would allow us to plan with confidence, invest in our teams and innovate in how we support patients and families. That is the kind of partnership between government, hospices and communities that this inquiry has opened the door to.”