REMARKS BY PRESIDENT MCALEESE AT THE OFFICIAL OPENING OF THE IN-PATIENT UNIT OF THE GALWAY CENTRE
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT MCALEESE AT THE OFFICIAL OPENING OF THE IN-PATIENT UNIT OF THE GALWAY CENTRE FOR PALLIATIVE CARE
Tá áthas an domhain orm go bhfuil mé anseo faoi dheireadh. Tá mé buíoch díbh as an chuireadh a thug sibh dom teach anseo inniu.
I am deeply honoured to have been asked to officially open this in-patient unit for palliative care in Renmore. I appreciate that this unit has been up and running for over 18 months, in fact I had a sneak preview a few months ago on a visit to a friend here! I am glad to see that, unlike a motorway, it doesn’t have to be closed while it is being officially opened! My thanks in particular to the Chief Executive, Mary Derrig, for her very welcome invitation.
The people of Galway have shown enormous generosity in raising money for the Galway Hospice Foundation. An amazing six million pounds has been collected through voluntary contributions since 1988, to fund not only this new unit, but also a range of Home Care, Day Care and Research and Education services. That generosity speaks volumes for the high regard in which the Foundation has been held since its establishment in the mid 1980’s. It also answers those who wonder out loud if we are becoming more selfish as a society. The facts here speak for themselves – of a people who care and keep on caring.
For over a decade, the Home Care Service has helped to care for and support over 1,600 patients and their families and this new in-patient unit has already provided symptom control, respite and terminal care for 248 people. These statistics are extremely impressive. Yet more important than any statistics is the way in which you have provided that service, by realising the integrity of your vision of treating people with respect, dignity and compassion. That requires extraordinary courage and love from staff, volunteers and families. It is an ethic and an ethos which we can all learn from. For despite the inevitability of death for us all, it is a subject that creates enormous fear and denial in our society. So often it is easier to turn away, to close our minds to the reality facing many patients and their carers, and that just adds to the isolation and loneliness felt by many at a time when they most need support and reassurance.
Human dignity need not and should not diminish with the approach of death. Yet how often in the past did the dying person lose all sense of control over his or her life and his or her dying. We have in recent years grown in understanding of how to meet death on terms which maintain human dignity and respect to the last breath. The Galway Hospice Foundation offers a truly holistic service, which recognises that illness is not simply a physical phenomenon, but one which has a psychological, social and spiritual impact both on patients and their families.
This is why the range of services provided by the Foundation is so important, each responding to a different need. We all know that most seriously ill people prefer to stay in their own home, where they can be most comfortable in familiar surroundings. Equally, many families would prefer to care for their relative at home, but in order to do so, they need practical and emotional support. That is where the home-care service comes in, providing a real lifeline to so many individuals and their families.
This service is complemented by the Day Care Facility, which enables patients to meet and socialise with each other, to extend their horizons and widen their social circle. It gives them fresh new stories to tell, the excitement of getting something new out of each day. That is often just as important as the medical treatment they receive. The dying person’s days do not need to be lived as if death had already occurred, as if each day was a day only of mourning and sorrow.
This new in-patient unit represents a final, essential part of the support structure. It enables carers to have a much- needed break from time-to-time, to recharge their batteries and regain the energy needed to carry on. We need our carers to be healthy and strong, physically, emotionally, spiritually. And when full-time care is needed, they know that their loved one is in the best possible hands. The continued involvement of carers and families at this time is part of the holistic approach to care of the dying, for all are drawn into this circle of being with death. We don’t want it to be a circle of dread, a place which overwhelms them, but a circle in which they feel supported, encouraged and confident. That is what the Galway Hospice Foundation gives them.
Palliative care requires a successful partnership approach between a large number of individuals and organisations – GPs, Public Health Nurses, Hospice Staff, the voluntary sector and the Western Health Board. I would like to pay a warm tribute to all of those people, especially the Hospice Staff, both past and present, who have given so wholeheartedly of both themselves and their talents in caring for those in need of the Hospice’s services. I would also like to commend the Western Health Board for the financial and other support it has given to this new unit.
One person, above all others, deserves a special mention: Dr Padraic O Conghaile, founding member and former Chairman, without whose vision, courage and tenacity this Hospice would not exist.
I wish Galway Hospice Foundation every success in the future and it is my great pleasure to declare this new unit in palliative care officially open.
Is iontach an obair atá ar siúl agaibh anseo. Guím rath agus
séan oraibh sa todhchaí.