The Orange Health Service has a long history of providing palliative care to those people in our community who, through choice or necessity, spend their final days our hours in hospital.
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The majority of us, if given the choice, would prefer to die at home, surrounded by the people and things we love.
Providing good palliative care at home or in aged care settings is pivotal and requires collaboration across a range of providers.
The Western NSW Local Health District is committed to a networked model of palliative care that responds to people’s wishes to die comfortably at home by building a strong relationship between patients, families, palliative care services and primary care providers, including family doctors.
In the Western LHD, the Palliative Care Home Support Program, delivered through HammondCare, helps build services around the patient and has resulted in over 60 per cent of participants being able to fulfill their wish to die at home.
For those people currently admitted to the Orange Health Service for palliative care, our staff ensure they, and their family, have access to the services they need.
This includes, where possible, direct admission to the hospital to avoid spending time in the Emergency Department; priority access to one of over 40 single, private rooms throughout the hospital and the fitting out of the room with things like a pull-out bed to enable family to remain close by.
The hospital plays a part in the range of palliative care services that need to be provided in Orange and we have worked with a community taskforce to make improvements to the services and facilities.
The Health Service is also represented on the working group established to look at how all the services and organisations involved in palliative care to better address the needs of the Orange community.
I want to ensure the community knows the Orange hospital continues to offer high quality and compassionate palliative care and that we will continue to work on further improvements.
Scott McLachlan, Chief Executive of Western NSW Local Health District
THE NEED FOR QUAD BIKE REFORM IS VITAL
THE news that another child has been injured after rolling a quad bike once again reinforces the need for a greater effort to be made to stop quad bike deaths and injuries.
Having grown up on a farm, I’m well acquainted with how widely used quad bikes are by country families and workers, including adults and children alike to get around their own property.
As a personal injury lawyer, I’ve also come into direct contact with the life-changing nature of a quad bike injury. One of my clients was 14 years old when she came off a quad bike without a helmet and suffered a permanent brain injury. Her choices in life will be very different now.
With 32 deaths from quad bike accidents in NSW alone over the past six years, it’s very welcome news that the State Government is pressing its federal counterpart for a national approach to quad bike safety and regulation.
Research has shown safety measures like roll bars and helmets can help keep our quad bike riders safe.
But even with the best regulations in the world, accidents are still a key risk. That’s why a national campaign is also needed to reinforce the message that wearing a helmet on a quad bike is an absolute must.
