A severe shortage of hospice services in hospitals and health centers across the nation could have a severe impact on the elderly and terminally ill patients, the Taiwan Healthcare Reform Foundation said yesterday.
“Nearly 86 percent of respondents to a survey conducted last month by the foundation said they would prefer painless hospice care at home or in local communities, rather than being kept alive by a ventilator. However, whether that hope will be dashed may hinge entirely on where they live,” foundation chairwoman Liu Mei-chun (劉梅君) told a news conference in Taipei.
Liu said that while it is common knowledge that the nation is rapidly becoming a “super-aged society,” in an evaluation of the availability, accessibility and policy of hospice care services, just two out of 19 cities and counties scored more than 41 out of 50 points — the minimum requirement for a five-star rating by the foundation.
In addition to the two five-starred administrative regions, Greater Taoyuan and Yilan County, five regions earned four stars: Greater Taichung, Chiayi and Hsinchu cities, and Changhua and Hualien counties, Liu said.
“It is worth noting that Taipei, despite being equipped with relatively abundant end-stage palliative care resources, scored just 30 on the test and was given a three-star rating, as its relatively large elderly population of 360,000 people has resulted in a high demand for end-of-life care,” Liu said, adding that Yulin County was rated the lowest, because it was lacking in all aspects of palliative care.
Another pressing problem is the wide gap in hospice care resources between cities and counties, Liu said, citing statistics that showed each hospice care facility in Chiayi City is responsible for an average of 189 cancer patients, for example, compared with 977 per facility in Yunlin County and an average of 364 per facility nationwide.
“In addition, about eight hospice palliative care beds are available per 100,000 residents in Hualien County, while people living in Nantou County have no such facilities at all,” Liu said.
More troubling, Liu said, is that nine out of the nation’s 50 “sub-medical regions” — population centers within larger medical service areas — were found to be without palliative care, lacking hospice beds, community services or home care options, Liu said.
Three are in Taitung County, two in Pingtung County and one each in Miaoli, Nantou, Yulin and Hualien counties, she added.
Foundation deputy executive director Phoebe Chen (陳芙媺) said its researchers have determined the root causes of the problems, which include indifference from local government leadership and reluctance among hospitals to promote hospice care because it is less lucrative than other hospital services.
“So far, only the governments of Taoyuan, Changhua, New Taipei City and Nantou have endeavored to promote community-based palliative care, while others rely solely on the services provided by the National Health Insurance program and have done little to build a hospice care network,” Chen said.
Despite the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s oft-touted efforts in facilitating hospice care, Chen said that just three of the nation’s 27 ministry-affiliated hospitals have palliative care beds, which are also absent in established cancer-oriented medical institutions such as Taipei’s Shin Kong Wu Ho-Su Memorial Hospital and the Far Eastern Memorial Hospital in New Taipei City.
The foundation urged local governments and the ministry to prioritize the provision of palliative care.
The first global hotel Keys Selection by the Michelin Guide includes four hotels in Taiwan, Michelin announced yesterday. All four received the “Michelin One Key,” indicating guests are to experience a “very special stay” at any of the locations as the establishments are “a true gem with personality. Service always goes the extra mile, and the hotel provides much more than others in its price range.” Of the four hotels, three are located in Taipei and one in Taichung. In Taipei, the One Key accolades were awarded to the Capella Taipei, Kimpton Da An Taipei and Mandarin Oriental Taipei. Capella Taipei was described by
The Taichung District Court yesterday confirmed its final ruling that the marriage between teenage heir Lai (賴) and a man surnamed Hsia (夏) was legally invalid, preventing Hsia from inheriting Lai’s NT$500 million (US$16.37 million) estate. The court confirmed that Hsia chose not to appeal the civil judgement after the court handed down its ruling in June, making the decision final. In the June ruling, the court said that Lai, 18, and Hsia, 26, showed “no mutual admiration before the marriage” and that their interactions were “distant and unfamiliar.” The judge concluded that the couple lacked the “true intention of
EVA Airways today confirmed the death of a flight attendant on Saturday upon their return to Taiwan and said an internal investigation has been launched, as criticism mounted over a social media post accusing the airline of failing to offer sufficient employee protections. According to the post, the flight attendant complained of feeling sick on board a flight, but was unable to take sick leave or access medical care. The crew member allegedly did not receive assistance from the chief purser, who failed to heed their requests for medical attention or call an ambulance once the flight landed, the post said. As sick
INDUSTRY: Beijing’s latest export measures go beyond targeting the US and would likely affect any country that uses Chinese rare earths or related tech, an academic said Taiwanese industries could face significant disruption from China’s newly tightened export controls on rare earth elements, as much of Taiwan’s supply indirectly depends on Chinese materials processed in Japan, a local expert said yesterday. Kristy Hsu (徐遵慈), director of the Taiwan ASEAN Studies Center at the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research, said that China’s latest export measures go far beyond targeting the US and would likely affect any country that uses Chinese rare earths or related technologies. With Japan and Southeast Asian countries among those expected to be hit, Taiwan could feel the impact through its reliance on Japanese-made semi-finished products and
RSS