Cancer Institute, Adyar, will soon open a hospice centre in Sriperumbudur, doctors at the institute said on Saturday. Marking World Hospice and Palliative Care Day, which fell on the second Saturday this month, doctors said the building is nearly ready and that it may be opened in about six months.
“This is a Cancer Institute initiative but has been funded by the Singhvi Charitable Trust. The centre will provide end-of-life and respite care for patients. It will have between 60 and 80 beds and while it will provide free service in the general ward, we are considering setting up a few special paid wards as there is a need for this too,” said Kalpana Balakrishnan, head of the palliative care department at the hospital.
Dr. Balakrishnan said that at present, outpatient services in palliative care were provided and a team from the institute made daily home visits to patients within a radius of 20 km from the institute. “We also have a dedicated phone number that patients can call in,” she said.
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Speaking on the occasion, chairperson of the institute, V. Shanta, said the most important thing in successful palliative care was the earliest possible relief of symptoms. “The yardstick to be used is the quality of life given to patients and family satisfaction,” she said. Dr. Shanta also highlighted the the importance of trust and confidence in the doctor-patient relationship, the significance of transparent communication, the need to spend as much time as possible with patients, respect, team work and the necessity of an ethical practice.
“Care beyond cure has got to be accepted as a mission,” she said.
The palliative care department at the hospital also set up an alliance of non-governmental organisations as well as doctors of the institute and is creating a database with their names and areas of work. “This can be used to help patients and families and if other hospitals need it, we will share it with them too,” she said.
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Multiple stakeholders
A total of 17 NGOs working in various fields make up TEAM —‘Together Everyone Achieves More’. They include The Banyan, which works with homeless people with mental health issues, an organisation that conducts the last rites of unclaimed and orphan bodies, an organisation that builds skills in cancer survivors and organisations that work in counselling among others.