THE region’s has gone backwards with its level of palliative care, a leading advocate says.
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Retired palliative care specialist, Yvonne McMaster, was the guest of honour at a Quirindi CWA luncheon where she urged members to petition the NSW health minister and their local MPs for more community-based care.
Dr McMaster has rallied to increase end-of-life care resources in NSW, particularly regional areas, for a number of years.
She has previously said this region’s numbers were the worst in the state when it came to the provision of community-based care.
“What I what to point out is, 30 years ago, this area was ahead of the rest of the state,” she told The NVI.
Palliative care is just as important in small rural areas as the big cities or the regional centres.
- Quirindi CWA secretary Colleen Wills
Dr McMaster said a lack of advocacy for the sector had caused it to slide.
“The dead can’t speak, the dying are too sick to speak, people who are looking after them are too busy looking after them too speak and once someone has died they don’t want it plastered all over the newspapers,” she said.
She was going to call on the CWA members to lobby for better services locally.
“I’m going to give them the address of the health minister and the address of their local member and suggest they write them a letter,” she said.
“Letters to the health minister do help.”
While Dr McMaster is retired and based in Sydney, she says she can’t stand by while there is suffering.
“The work of palliative care is to relive suffering,” she said.
“In life, there are so many things you see that need fixing, but you don’t know how to fix it.
“This I know about and I know how to fix it so give ‘em hell.”
Quirindi CWA secretary, Colleen Wills, said the issue needed more promotion and exposure.
“Palliative care is just as important in small rural areas as the big cities or the regional centres,” Mrs Wills said.
“It appears to me we could do with a lot more in Tamworth.”
Each year, the CWA awards a number of scholarships for people studying and furthering their careers in medicine and allied health.
“This year, the Namoi group’s going to give an extra $1000 for palliative care,” Mrs Wills said. “I think there will be a petition asking for better support and writing to the minister to get more.”
Jacob McArthur
Jacob McArthur is opinions editor for The Canberra Times and Australian Community Media. As part of the Canberra Times' production team, he helps the people of Canberra and beyond get the stories they need, when they need them across a range of platforms, while helping maintain a high editorial standard. Before moving to Canberra in 2020, he started with Australian Community Media in 2015 as a journalist for The Northern Daily Leader in Tamworth where he kept a close eye on Tamworth Regional Council. Jacob was also the co-host of ACM's Water Pressure podcast where he and Jamieson Murphy took a deep dive on issues and key decisions arising during one of the region's worst droughts on record.
Jacob McArthur is opinions editor for The Canberra Times and Australian Community Media. As part of the Canberra Times' production team, he helps the people of Canberra and beyond get the stories they need, when they need them across a range of platforms, while helping maintain a high editorial standard. Before moving to Canberra in 2020, he started with Australian Community Media in 2015 as a journalist for The Northern Daily Leader in Tamworth where he kept a close eye on Tamworth Regional Council. Jacob was also the co-host of ACM's Water Pressure podcast where he and Jamieson Murphy took a deep dive on issues and key decisions arising during one of the region's worst droughts on record.
