The National Health Service is working on a draft order that provides funding for home-based counseling in palliative and hospice care. The regulations are expected to come into effect as early as April. The issue is a draft amendment to the Ordinance on defining the terms and conditions for the conclusion and implementation of contracts in the type of palliative and hospice care. In it, the Fund proposes to introduce a new billing product: "consultation at the recipient's home" in the field of palliative medicine outpatient clinics. In addition to services provided on-site at the outpatient clinic, providers will be able to perform up to 2 visits per week at the patient's home.
Palliative medicine deals with the treatment and care of terminally ill people. The name comes from the English word palliative, meaning "soothing," "relieving." According to the definition of the World Health Organization (WHO), palliative medicine is an activity that improves the quality of life of patients and their families when problems arise from a life-threatening illness, including by alleviating the symptoms of its disease. All conditions that are chronic or at an advanced stage and cause the quality of life to be significantly impaired may mandate the use of palliative medicine methods. Access to such treatment is, according to the UN Convention, a human right.
Cicely Sanuders, a British doctor who opened St. Christopher's Hospice in London in 1967, is considered the founder of palliative medicine. The center quickly became a place where doctors and caregivers began to be trained. What set it apart from other hospitals and care centers was a new approach to symptomatic treatment and individualized care for patients. The hospice staff proved that the doctor has a significant impact on the patient's fate, regardless of the type of disease. Elisabeth Kuebler-Ross, an American physician of Swiss descent, also contributed to the development of palliative medicine.
Palliative medicine in Poland began to develop in the 1980s - at that time such centers were known as "hospice". The 1990s saw rapid development of the field and there are now about 200 units dealing with palliative medicine. Every year, more and more medics are working in the system in palliative and hospice care. According to the Supreme Medical Board, since December 2010, when the number of working physicians was 212 specialists, by June 31, 2019, their number had risen to 511. This represents a nearly 2.5-fold increase in the number of physicians dealing with patients at the end of their lives. Eighty percent of palliative medicine patients, are oncology patients, for whom palliative care is a chance to relieve severe pain caused by cancer.
