NZ drops in world ranking for palliative care services

Research published in the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine showed New Zealand ranked 12th in 2021, after being third in 2015. This result and other findings were highlighted by Dr Catherine D’Souza in a paper in the New Zealand Medical Journal.

Dr D’Souza, who is chairperson of the Palliative Care Collaborative Aotearoa, said “we have stopped keeping up with other countries and have gone backwards”.

In 2024, it cost $226 million to run hospices in this country, but the sector had to fundraise $112 million just to keep the doors open.

Of the 37,884 deaths in Aotearoa New Zealand in 2024, about 90 per cent required palliative care. Hospices are barely able to keep up with demand. In 2023, they served 10,800 people – or 30 per cent of deaths that required palliative care in New Zealand.

“It makes me weep when I see people in their 90s being admitted to hospital out of hours because there is nowhere else to go and there’s nobody available to look after them as they’re dying. It shouldn’t be like that,” Dr D’Souza said.

Health Minister Simeon Brown said Health NZ has increased funding to the hospice sector by 3 per cent this year, as part of the Government’s increased spending on health.

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PressReader.com (By Sapeer Mayron/The Press)

The Need for Palliative Care in Aotearoa New Zealand (New Zealand Medical Journal)