Eastern Costa del Sol town launches emergency palliative care service

Palliative care is a health service that is not always offered in the public health system in Malaga province and instead often has to be channelled through charities such as Cudeca. In Vélez-Málaga the town hall has decided to include it in the portfolio of services provided by the municipal company, Emvipsa, which is already in charge of home help.

Deputy mayor and councillor responsible for Emvipsa, Jesús Pérez Atencia, together with the councillor for social affairs, Juan García, have announced this new social project focused on urgent care for terminally ill people. "In response to the delays that continue to exist in the application of the dependency law, which have prevented many terminally ill people from accessing the necessary resources in their last days, the town hall has developed an exclusive and urgent home care service for palliative care", they said in a statement.

The project started at the beginning of this year, with a first meeting held on 27 February at Torre del Mar Mayor's Office. According to Atencia "this was followed by further meetings on 12 March and 1 April, in which we worked out objectives, needs and resources. As a result of these meetings, on 17 March we sent a message to all staff to find out who would be interested in receiving specific training in palliative care. We wanted to know how many committed people we could count on to take the next step. The response was very positive: before the deadline on 21 March, we received confirmation of 176 interested employees."

Atencia went on to say, "We continued to make progress in the design of the programme and we held new meetings, on 9 and 11 June. In these meetings we closed coordination details with the health resources and began to prepare the more technical part of the project. After this work, we contacted a specialised entity to organise a 20-hour course," he explained.

This training will provide staff with essential knowledge on areas including the definition and organisation of palliative care, the rights of patients and families, symptom control in terminally ill patients, basic comfort measures, emotional support and communication at the end of life, as well as the importance of beliefs and values of the patient.

The starting date of the course has yet to be set, "as we want to make sure that the planning is adequate and adapts to the participants' shifts and availability. This whole process responds to any serious, planned and shared work and listening, analysis and collaboration between different areas and professionals," said Pérez Atencia.

The councillor said that they "firmly believe that improving end-of-life care is also a way of dignifying the health, well-being and support of people and their families. Thanks to all of you who have made it possible for this project to become a reality".

The new service will allow Vélez-Málaga town hall to immediately activate home help on the basis of a medical report accrediting the patient's terminal condition. The aim is to guarantee a dignified death at home, surrounded by loved ones and with the support of staff trained and specialised in palliative care.

"We want these people to receive the care they deserve and for their families to have the vital support they need at this difficult time. This is an urgent, humane and profoundly social measure," added the councillor. The service is expected to be up and running in September or October, when the detailed application procedure will be announced. "This new resource is part of the municipal policy of strengthening direct social care and improving the quality of life of the residents of the municipality in the most delicate stages of life," said Atencia.