Senator Sharon Carstairs says health care “turf warfare” is on the horizon if there are going to be improvements to palliative care to help dying Canadians and their families.
The federal and provincial governments are preparing to renegotiate the Health Accord in 2014.
Changes to palliative care funding will be difficult but are necessary, said Carstairs, guest speaker at Voices for Hospices at CrossRoads Church on Saturday.
“I’m hoping that the 2014 Health Accord will really start to deal with some of these restructuring issues,” said the senator at the event hosted by Red Deer Hospice to celebrate World Hospice & Palliative Care Day.
Carstairs authored the 2010 report Raising the Bar: A road map for the Future of Palliative Care in Canada.
Recommendations included ensuring palliative care services are covered under all provincial health insurance plans and establishing a Canadian Palliative Care Capacity Building Fund of at least $20 million annually for five years for health care provider, public engagement and capacity building activities.
Carstairs said so far there’s been no federal progress or federal funding to support the report’s 17 recommendations.
Carstairs was leader of the provincial Manitoba Liberal Party from 1988 until 1993 before appointed to the senate and became federal Cabinet Minister with Special Responsibility for Palliative Care from 2001 to 2003.
She said palliative care is getting better, but “not nearly as good as it should be.”
“We still have 70 per cent of Canadians who don’t have access to quality end of life care when they require it.”
Some hospices are fully funded by provinces and others get nothing. Meanwhile, palliative care in hospitals cost on average $1,250 to $1,600 a day compared to $350 a day in a hospice.
Last year, Red Deer Hospice had 76 patients at its 10-patient facility, with Alberta Health Services providing about one third of the funding and the rest paid by fundraising and donations.
Most patients are referred by Alberta Health Services home care services and by Red Deer Hospital’s palliative care unit.
There is no set fee to stay at Red Deer Hospice and nobody is ever denied care because of their personal financial situation. Eligibility criteria for the hospice is based on medical assessments.
szielinski@www.reddeeradvocate.com