THE IRISH Hospice Foundation is to commit €2.25 million up to 2015 to fund five outreach nurses in the area of palliative care for seriously ill children.
Three further nurses costing some €200,000 will be provided by the HSE as part of a plan to improve services in this area.
Details of the package were published yesterday by the Government. It will be aimed at children where treatment is exclusively palliative in areas such as cystic fibrosis, batten disease and muscular dystrophy. Minister of State for Children Barry Andrews said the key objective of the initiative was to focus on homecare.
“The ultimate aim of this policy is to ensure that all children with life-limiting conditions will have the choice and opportunity to be cared for in the home surrounded by their loved ones, whilst having coherent support and care provided through a multidisciplinary family-centred approach to their individual care needs,” he said.
Some 1,400 children in the Republic are living with a life-threatening condition. About 490 of that number die every year or just under 10 a week. Mr Andrews said the creation of eight nursing posts to deal with palliative care for children in the home would be spread geographically.