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To the editor:
We often assume in Canada that palliative care services will be available to us or our loved ones when we need them. When we are facing cancer or other life-limiting illnesses, we will get the care, comfort, dignity, and choice we deserve right up until the end.
But that’s not always the case.
Palliative care in Canada is falling short.
Our Canadian Cancer Society report found that while best practices suggest Canada should have 7 hospice beds per 100,000 people, we only have about half the number of beds we should (3.79 per 100,000). Even before a pandemic that upended care, there were staffing shortages and a lack of data or research that needed to be addressed.
That’s why the Government of Canada’s new report is so warmly welcomed.
In it, they report back on progress towards their Framework on Palliative Care – and acknowledge that there is more work to do. They give palliative care the spotlight it deserves. Hopefully, this is just the start, and they will make palliative care a priority on the healthcare agenda going forward. Because it’s care everyone in Canada deserves.
Daniel Nowoselski, Advocacy Manager
Hospice Palliative Care, Canadian Cancer Society
