St Christopher's Hospice
Patient and Family Benefits
How Patients and Families will Benefit from new Specialist Hospice Development
Eight years ago St. Christopher’s Hospice presented evidence to the HSE that clearly illustrated that patients and families in Cavan and Monaghan were severely disadvantaged in getting access to quality end of life/palliative care.
While the available respite services were greatly valued by the community – the lack of access to end-of-life specialist hospice beds led to increasing numbers dying in an acute hospital setting.
The charts below outlined this inequity in the provision of specialist palliative care services between the “resource rich” and “resource poor” areas. The per capita spend on specialist hospice care was over €30 in the Northwest and just €6 per capita in Cavan and Monaghan.
State Hospice Spend Per Capita by Region €.
Source: Baseline Study, Irish Hospice Foundation
- North-Western Health Board (Donegal, Sligo, Leitrim) €35.6
- North Eastern Health Board (Louth, Meath, Cavan, Monaghan) €116
- Cavan/Monaghan €6
Hospice Inpatient Unit – Specialist Bed Numbers
Source: Irish Hospice Foundation – Baseline Study
- Donegal/Sligo/Leitrim. 18
- Cavan/Monaghan 0
It is important to highlight the impact on patients of inequity in access to palliative care services in the counties of Cavan and Monaghan.
% Palliative Care Homecare Patients Dying in an Acute Hospital by County
Source: HSE, Palliative Care Minimum Data Set
| Area | Acute Hospital | Hospice | Private Nursing Home |
|---|---|---|---|
| Donegal | 6.5% | 26% | 6.9% |
| Sligo/Leitrim | 9% | 33% | 8.1% |
| Cavan/Monaghan | 17.1% | 0% | 13.4% |
Approximately 30% of palliative care patients dying in Cavan and Monaghan are denied access to a hospice bed and they are twice as likely to die in an acute hospital compared to patients in Donegal and Sligo/Leitrim.
Examining the data from a population health perspective shows a much lower rate of access to specialist hospice beds per 10,000 of population in the “resource poor’ counties of Cavan and Monaghan
Specialist Hospice Inpatient Admissions per 10,000 of Population by Region
Source: HSE, Palliative Care Minimum Data Set
Specialist Hospice Admissions per 10,000 of population
- North West (Donegal, Sligo/Leitrim) 21.3
- Cavan/Monaghan 0
If there were a similar level of admissions to inpatient hospice beds (21.3 per 10,000 of population) in Cavan and Monaghan and the patients had similar patterns/preferences of care there would be an additional 280 admissions. There are currently no specialist hospice inpatient admissions in Cavan and Monaghan.
Place of Death of Cancer Patients (National Cancer Registry)
| Area | Acute Hospital % |
|---|---|
| Donegal | 26% |
| Sligo | 22% |
| Cavan | 40% |
The extended and refurbished hospice will continue to ensure that respite beds are available to support carers in the community.
