The Government is becoming WAY TOO MUCH!!!
What next, decide for us to go to Heaven or Hell???
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MOH may change rules hindering
patients' preference to die at home
By Julia Ng, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 07 September 2007 1635
hrs
MOH may change rules hindering patients' preference to die at
home
SINGAPORE: Surveys in Japan and London have found that most people
prefer to die at home. Yet most ended up dying in hospitals.
In London, only 20 per cent of deaths occurred at home, with 66 per
cent occurring in hospitals.
In Japan, over four-fifths of people died in hospitals while the
rest died at home.
But in Singapore, statistics showed that 55 per cent died in
hospitals and about 28 per cent died at home.
Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan said that anecdotally, up to 90 per
cent of patients in Singapore prefer to die at home.
In view of this, he may change current rules and processes that
hinder them from doing so.
Mr Khaw was speaking at the official opening of the 18th Children
Hospice International Congress in Singapore.
The Health Minister said he hopes more people in Singapore would
discuss the question of 'where do I want to die', just like the
Japanese at a so-called village of long life he recently
visited.
"At the Ogimi village, I did not find villagers squeamish when
talking about it (death). They laughed and joked about it. They
realised that treating death as taboo does a disservice to both the
dying and the living, adding to loneliness, anxiety and stress for
all," Mr Khaw said.
He also recounted how many Japanese lamented that despite their
strong preference to die at home, few got their final wish
granted.
No survey has been done in Singapore yet on the preferences of
where patients want to die.
But Mr Khaw said that he did not expect Singaporeans' preference to
be much different from the Japanese and Londoners who prefer to die
at home.
"Judging from other countries' experience, for the terminally ill,
those who have time to think of their last moments, I think most
point to this preference, which is understandable. You want to die
where your loved ones are around you and in familiar surroundings.
The reality of modern healthcare is that that wish is seldom
achieved. If indeed that's the case, then let's find out what's
stopping this. What are the factors that hinder this," he
said.
"Off-hand, some people told me that to get doctors to certify death
(at home) is not the easiest thing to do in the world. Whereas, if
a person dies in the hospital, there're ready doctors there. I'm
sure if a person has a family GP for many years, the GP would go
there to certify the death. But I may be speculating. So let's find
out," said Mr Khaw.
"Or, it could be because of money, the way subsidies are being
given....Dr Seet Ai Mee just told me that for those who die in
hospital, they receive subsidies. Once they go into home hospice,
they don't receive subsidies. Likewise, insurance may insure, may
cover if the person is dying in hospital but not at home. If that's
the case, then we'll have to look at some of these distortions. I
suspect there are many factors.....let's find out what are the
obstacles and whether it makes sense to remove these obstacles," he
said.
But for now, Mr Khaw wants to survey Singaporeans on their
preferences so that his Ministry can accommodate the last wishes of
the terminally-ill.
In fact, Singapore is thinking of setting up a register where
people could record their preferences of where they want to die, as
recommended in a London report.
Mr Khaw also said that to make hospice and home palliative care an
important part of Singapore's healthcare delivery system, his
Ministry will support and grow palliative medicine into an
attractive and effective medical sub-specialty.
It will extend palliative care and its benefits beyond oncology to
other terminal-stage chronic conditions such as heart failure and
chronic obstructive lung disease.
The Ministry will also ramp up the manpower needed to support the
growing demand. More nurses, counsellors, medical social workers
and therapists will be trained.
Singapore will also do more to educate the public on hospice and
end-of-life care. - CNA/ir
