Little Haven is featured on the Community Wall at The Compassionate Communities Symposium currently underway in Sydney.
Compassionate Communities is an international movement that aims to support communities to recognise the needs of people who are approaching the end of their lives, and develop initiatives to support them during this important stage of life.
I’d have loved to be there to share Little Haven’s wonderful model of community Palliative Care but life in the not for profit sector does not allow much in the budget for interstate travel :). We spend the money given to us by our compassionate community exactly where it should be spent – 24/7 Hands On Compassionate Care and Living Support.
I’d doubt there’s another 24/7 specialist Palliative Care Service that survives on less than 35% Govt funding – 65% community funded! … With this level of support we support all who seek our care, recognising early admission to Pall Care as improving both quality and quantity of life.
Thank you GYMPIE for valuing compassionate care of the dying in the “right place at the right time” . For many communities this level of dignified end of life care is not an option. See how Little Haven’s model meets the findings of The Productivity Commission.
#wishiworkedforqhealth then I could afford to go
This is the information submitted for The Community Wall …..
Compassionate care and living support – This is our mission and this is our message – because so many of our patients come to us with everything to live for and may only come to accept death in the hour it is inevitable. The value of our services at Little Haven Palliative Care is to provide all the support and comfort patients and their families need to live…..practical, technical, clinical support and also the nurturing needed to find peace, the peace to relax into dying.
Our nurses go above and beyond giving their skills and love generously, compassionately and selflessly. One Friday after a long emotional day the staff were tidying up and discussing their plans for the evening when despite the late hour, a man supported by his partner, staggered through the door. We’d never met this man before, but he came enroute from Brisbane to his home in Rainbow Beach, desperate for help. Newly diagnosed with glioblastoma he’d had a rapid deterioration impacting his mobility, his dignity and his dreams for his future. It would be hours before he was sorted, washed, fresh clothes unearthed, mobility aids provided, phone calls to doctors to sort medications, provide reassurance to his partner and coordinate with a local contact to support him get upstairs once at home. Around 8pm as the man and his partner left with the 24/7 support number in hand, it struck me that there was not one word of complaint from our nurses of their disrupted evening, just raw empathy for this couple.
I’m incredibly proud of our nurses and incredibly proud of Little Haven’s history and model of true community based palliative care. At the heart of Little Haven’s model of care is compassion – an understanding of the emotional state of others combined with a desire to alleviate suffering.
Submitted by: Sue Manton,OAM
Business Manager
Little Haven Palliative Care Inc
