Between 6th-10th July 2016 BELhospice organized Summer school of palliative care which gathered 40 attendees including doctors, nurses and social workers from health care centers as well as secondary and tertiary health care institutions from all over Serbia. With the participation of 6 lecturers, a course named „Palliative care: between theory and practice“ covered all the important topics in the field of palliative care with workshops and exchange of experience.
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In final workshop were discussed problems encountered by professionals who work with patients in need of palliative care:
[separator top=“10″] Primary health care employees state these as main organizational problems:
- Lack of workforce
- Incomplete teams (no social workers, psychologists)
- Lack of: standardized service for home care in Serbia, unique medical documentation, and palliative care norms
- Inability of representing palliative care service to and lack of acknowledgment from National Health Insurance Fund of some essential drugs for palliative care
- Not enough vehicles
- Lack of nurses in the health care system
[separator top=“10″]Main problems encountered while working with patients/families are:
- Unreal expectations of patients/families
- Social problems and insufficient supplies (ex. diapers, oxygen, pneumatic mattresses etc)
- Insufficient stationary units for palliative care and bureaucratic procedure for directing patients to the existing units
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Expectations from secondary and tertiary health care:
- After running out of specific treatment measures, future care should be provided by home care doctors (primary health care) who take care of the patient, without giving unreal advice for the upcoming therapy (hydration, using many drugs, etc.)
- Better education of secondary and tertiary level doctors about philosophy, goals, and possibilities of palliative care
- Better cooperation and understanding
[separator top=“10″]Doctors and nurses from the secondary and tertiary health care institutions recognize these as main organizational problems:
- Lack of workforce and space
- Lack of work enthusiasm
- Insufficient education of healthcare workforce
[separator top=“10″]Their main problem, encountered while working with patients and their families, is lack of good cooperation with patient’s family. From primary health care units, they expect better triage of the patients they send to palliative care units and better education of the family.
[separator top=“10″]The course was accredited by the Serbian Health Association and financially supported through project of Royal Norwegian Embassy.
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