Page 1078 - Week 04 - Thursday, 29 March 1990
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while ago, just over the Christmas period, my family spent quite some time involved with my very sick aunt in a hospice facility in a country town in New South Wales. Those people who have actually spent time with family in a hospice will realise just how important it is to have a freestanding facility. Freestanding can mean that it is in the same grounds as other facilities but that people do not have to go through those front doors of a hospital when they go in and out of a hospice facility.
I believe it is very important for Canberra, the national capital, to have such a facility. We have a population of 277,000 people. Many small country towns, and there are quite a few of them, in New South Wales have facilities attached to hospitals. Sure, there are only several beds, but the difference for those families when they spend that time in the hospital as against a freestanding facility, is quite remarkable - the reasons being, I think, the hospice programs. I would like to refer to page 58 of the report about the common goals that people, and especially the ACT Hospice Association, share. I think it is important that we look at some of these goals and the reasons why that separate facility to a hospital is very important.
Certainly we look at the needs of the patient. We are trying to keep the patient pain-free, comfortable and as alert as possible during the final phases of the illness. We are helping patients to remain as viable family members in their chosen environments and it is, of course, important to try to keep as many of their own personal effects around them, too. We strive to help each patient to retain a sense of personal identity. We support preserving the right of self-determination and we ensure active participation in managing the problems of one's remaining lifespan and death.
I think it is also important to recognise that we are not just talking about the in-patient here; we are also talking about the additional facilities. Very often people choose the palliative care service when they choose to stay in their own homes. Sometimes that is not possible. Sometimes people do want to remain at home, but there are times when people should use a hospice facility. Obviously, if that is not available, then they choose the alternative which may or may not be satisfactory, especially for their family.
The other point I would like to make about the report and the recommendations relates to the sale of Jindalee and the inadequacies of that site. I think it is important to recognise just how good a job the staff do there under those very inadequate circumstances. I mentioned when tabling the report the time that my uncle spent there. That came to an end in October last year. So over a long period of time, I was very familiar with a lot of the staff there and the service they provided. We all know that Jindalee is, as has been mentioned in the blueprint, the only nursing home in the ACT to be accredited by the
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