Thousands of cancer patients are being denied a dignified death, a charity warned today.

Research for Macmillan Cancer Support found that almost three-quarters of cancer patients who died in hospital beds had wanted to spend their last days in the comfort of their own homes.

This equates to some 36,000 people a year – or almost 100 a day.

Some 41 per cent of relatives questioned said that their loved ones were not always treated with dignity and respect during their final hospital stay.

And families were only half as likely to rate end-of-life care in hospital ‘excellent’ or ‘outstanding’ as care at home.

Macmillan Cancer Support, which used information from the Office for National Statistics on cause of death and information from patients’ relatives, said there is no medical reason why someone with cancer cannot die at home if they want to.

But if support is not there, including visits from district nurses, those close to death have to be admitted to A&E.

In other cases some doctors baulk at the prospect of discussing death or patients are simply not told what support is available.

The charity wants social care, including feeding and dressing, to be made free to all of those in the last days of life.

The recommendation was made by a Government-commissioned review of palliative care two years ago but has yet to be implemented.

Ciaran Devane, chief executive of Macmillan Cancer Support, said: ‘As the Government makes up its mind about whether to fund and implement free social care at the end of life, thousands of people with terminal cancer are being left to die in hospital beds against their wishes.

‘This is putting an unnecessary strain on our A&E departments because people are not getting access to social care for themselves or for their carers which would enable them to be cared for in the comfort of their own home.

‘It’s simply not good enough to pay lip service to this issue – we need to see action. If the Government wants the NHS to deliver world-class care at the end of life in the UK, it needs to start by giving people a real choice about where they die.’

Lacey Phillips, 31, from Newcastle-upon-Tyne, cared for her father who died of head and neck cancer in 2012.

She said: ‘Nobody explicitly told my dad he was at the end of his life, or explained what might be available in terms of support.

‘We would have liked to have been given more options on his care – what they could do, what he was entitled to, or what potential costs might be involved.

‘We would all have preferred him to die either at home or in a hospice, where he would have felt more comfortable.’

A Department of Health spokesman said: ‘We are committed to improving and increasing the choice available for patients at the end of their life so they can choose where to spend their last days.

‘As part of our work to improve end of life care, the current system for funding palliative care is being reviewed, with the intention to introduce a new system in 2015/16.’

Source: dailymail.co.uk

About 8,500 uninsured people who have shown up routinely at South Carolina hospitals for emergency care will get free comprehensive care designed to keep them out of emergency rooms.

The effort is tied to the S.C. Department of Health and Human Service’s new Healthy Outcomes program, spelled out in a state budget proviso this year. In order to be eligible for its full portion of the state’s pot of $474 million of Medicaid funds allocated for treating the uninsured, each hospital must put together a plan designed to keep frequent emergency room patients out of the hospital.

Large hospitals that didn’t participate in the Healthy Outcomes program would lose 10 percent of their share of the uninsured funding. Not surprisingly, each hospital came up with a plan. The goal is to save money by improving the health of a select group that runs up extreme costs with no means of paying for their care.

At Palmetto Health Baptist and Palmetto Health Richland, 1,268 uninsured patients made at least four visits to the emergency room in a recent 12-month period. Those 1,268 patients accounted for about 7,500 emergency room visits — nearly 10 percent of the hospitals’ total emergency visits — and almost 600 admissions for hospital care.

Those visits generated $38 million in charges that the patients couldn’t pay. It would be much less expensive for patients with chronic ailments to control those ailments by seeing a primary care physician, getting medication and making lifestyle changes.

Palmetto Health is reaching out to those 1,238 frequent users now rather than wait for them to return to the emergency room. The goal is to get 662 of those patients free care at teaching clinics, health centers and primary care sites affiliated with Palmetto Health. To do that, Palmetto Health will add about 30 employees to expand two programs started in recent years to reduce hospital readmissions.

Dr. Tripp Jennings, an emergency room physician at Palmetto Health Richland and a consulting medical director with HHS, said it’s common to have emergency patients that don’t meet standards for admission to the hospital “but they just need a little help. It’s very exciting to me to be able to discharge patients who don’t have insurance with more than just hope.”

Abbeville County Memorial Hospital had one of the more unusual plans, using paramedics to check on former emergency room patients at home. They’ll take standard health measurements, make sure the patients have their prescribed medications and get them in touch with physicians when necessary.

Lexington Medical Center is focusing specifically on patients who show up frequently at its emergency room with diabetes complications. Those cases clog an already busy emergency room, which handled 108,000 cases from April 2012 to March 2013. More than one-quarter of those visits — 28,227 — were by people without insurance, and 1,345 of those involved a diabetes-related problem.

The hospital set up Lexington Medical Associates in 2001 to provide a medical home for patients without insurance or the means to pay for care. Lexington Medical Associates has about 1,500 patients. The hospital plans to assign Lexington Medical Associates 280 more patients — chosen from those who visit the emergency room frequently. Those patients will have free access to a primary care physician, a diabetes educator and social workers.

Providence Hospitals has identified 457 uninsured frequent emergency room users with chronic illnesses. It will recruit 180 of them for free care at Providence Internal Medicine Downtown, which was set up in 2011 specifically as a medical home for its frequent uninsured users. Providence Internal has 196 uninsured patients now. Providence plans to focus on patients with diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular disease, as well as behavioral health patients.

The Census Bureau estimates that 50,613 people in Richland County and 46,417 in Lexington County were uninsured in 2011. The Healthy Outcomes programs will pay for medical homes for about 1,100 of them.

Source: thestate.com

MEDAN | DNA – Kisah sedih dan memilukan dialami oleh,Lebor Br Butar-butar warga Kelurahan Merdeka,Kecamatan Medan Baru yang mengalami buruknya layanan rumah sakit.

Hal ini dialaminya,saat putrinya bernama Lisda Br Simanjuntak yang membutuhkan pertolongan medis dirumah sakit tidak dilayani.

“Anak saya telah yatim, beberapa hari lalu kena percikan api kompor badanya melepuh karena saya tidak orang sekolah hanya saya rawat di rumah sakit,tapi lama-lama lukanya makin parah langsung saya bawa ke rumah sakit, tapi saya malah diminta uang,” keluhnya dengan pilu kepada wartawan di Medan Minggu (27/10/2013).

Atas berbagai informasi,dikatakan warga Jalan Sei Silau Gang Romi tersebut akhirnya dirinya mengurus surat keterangan miskin,tapi setelah mendapatkan surat miskin justru obat-obat diwajibkan membeli.

“Dari mana uangku terus beli obat pak saya hanya seorang pemulung.Dapat uang untuk makan saja sudah syukur karena tidak tahan beli obat akhirnya saya pindahkan anak saya sekarang,”ucap Labour dengan linangan air mata yang menyampaikan kini anaknya dirawat di Rumah Sakit Bina Kasih-Medan Sunggal.(sam/mdn)

Sumber: dnaberita.com

SOLO, suaramerdeka.com – Layanan RSUD Surakarta di Kampung Ngipang, Kelurahan Kadipiro, Kecamatan Banjarsari, terus ditingkatkan. Tahun depan, rumah sakit milik Pemkot Surakarta itu akan memiliki layanan hemodialisa atau cuci darah bagi penderita gagal ginjal.

Anggaran Rp 8 miliar sudah disetujui Badan Anggaran dan Tim Anggaran Pemerintah Daerah (TAPD) dicantumkan dalam Kebijakan Umum Anggaran dan Prioritas Plafon Anggaran Sementara (KUA PPAS) APBD 2014, untuk penyediaan sarana dan prasarana layanan tersebut.

“Layanan ini akan membantu masyarakat yang butuh cuci darah, tapi kemampuan ekonominya terbatas. Sebab biayanya tidak sedikit. Warga Solo pemegang kartu PKMS (Pemeliharaan Kesehatan Masyarakat Surakarta) akan terbantu,” kata anggota Banggar DPRD Surakarta Reny Widyawati.

Untuk pemegang PKMS Silver, tarif yang dikenakan sekali cuci darah Rp 750 ribu. Namun untuk pemegang PKMS Gold yang merupakan masyarakat tidak mampu, akan digratiskan. Sedangkan masyarakat umum non PKMS tarifnya Rp 1,2 juta.

Reny mengatakan, pemenuhan layanan hemodialisa mendesak dilakukan. Sebab dari evaluasi pelaksanaan PKMS beberapa tahun terakhir, serapan anggaran terbesar untuk layanan cuci darah. Setiap tahun, klaim layanan cuci darah mencapai Rp 5 miliar, yang sebagian besar dari rumah sakit swasta.

“Dari situ, Dinas Kesehatan Kota (DKK) mengusulkan agar RSUD dilengkapi layanan hemodialisa. Jadi anggaran PKMS dari APBD, bisa masuk ke rumah sakit milik Pemkot sendiri,” tuturnya.

Direktur Utama RSUD Sumartono Kardjo membenarkan, ada rencana penyediaan layanan hemodialisa. Anggaran Rp 8 miliar yang diajukan, untuk pengadaan ruangan layanan tersebut, juga untuk ruang perkantoran di lantai dua gedung.

“Anggaran itu belum termasuk peralatannya. Kalau alat, kami sudah punya satu unit. Tahun ini, kami juga mengajukan satu unit tambahan lewat Tugas Pembantuan pusat, serta dua unit diajukan ke provinsi. Minimal butuh empat unit, sebagai syarat membuka layanan ini,” jelasnya.

Dia menambahkan, RSUD sebenarnya tidak wajib memiliki layanan hemodialisa, karena termasuk rumah sakit tipe C. Tapi dengan pertimbangan pengelolaan dana PKMS, maka RSUD diminta menyediakan layanan cuci darah.

Soal tenaga medis, saat ini sudah ada dokter spesialis dalam dan sudah dilatih untuk pelayanan cuci darah. “Tinggal menambah perawat untuk membantunya,” imbuhnya.

Sumber: suaramerdeka.com

Jakarta, PKMK. Jumlah ranjang pasien di rumah sakit di Jakarta kini melebihi kebutuhan. Saat ini, di Jakarta ada sekitar 21.000 unit ranjang pasien. Sementara, jumlah ideal ranjang itu di 10.000 unit. Nafsiah Mboi, Menteri Kesehatan RI, mengatakan hal tersebut di Jakarta dalam grand launching Mayapada Hospital Jakarta Selatan (24/10/2013).

Ia menyatakan sangat berterima kasih atas pengoperasian Mayapada Hospital Jakarta Selatan. Keberadaan layanan internasional merupakan salah satu wujud pelayanan kesehatan kepada masyarakat. “Saya berpesan, selalulah mengupayakan agar rumah sakit ini dioperasikan dengan hati,” kata dia.

Layanan ke pasien juga mencakup sejumlah hal non-teknis kedokteran. Itu adalah sikap ramah dan terbuka. “Juga termasuk menjawab dengan telaten semua pertanyaan pasien,” ucap Menteri Nafsiah Mboi.

Lebih lanjut ia berkata, menjelang berlangsungnya BPJS Kesehatan, Pemerintah Indonesia melakukan mobilisasi sumber daya. Termasuk di dalamnya adalah mobilisasi rumah sakit swasta. Jadi, keberhasilan BPJS Kesehatan yang merupakan bagian dari Sistem Jaminan Sosial Nasional sangat ditentukan oleh masyarakat, termasuk rumah sakit swasta.

Pada kesempatan itu, Menteri Nafsiah Mboi pun secara simbolis menerima penyerahan dana donasi senilai Rp 11 miliar dari Global Fund. Dana itu akan digunakan untuk pelayanan kesehatan pasien tidak mampu. “Dukungan Global Fund ini tentu sangat bermanfaat bagi negara berlkembang, kata dia.

Jakarta, PKMK. Rumah sakit taraf internasional yang banyak terdapat di Jakarta ataupun kota besar lain di Indonesia diharapkan bisa menarik minat pasien negara lain. Dokter-dokter Indonesia di rumah sakit itu harus lebih dicari oleh pasien negara lain. Agung Laksono, Menteri Koordinator Kesejahteraan Rakyat RI, mengatakan hal tersebut di Jakarta (24/10/2013).

Berpidato di grand launching Mayapada Hospital di Jakarta Selatan Agung mengatakan bahwa terdapat pula sejumlah kendala pelayanan medis di Indonesia. Antara lain, sistem rujukan belum berjalan bagus. Kemudian, komunikasi antara pasien dengan pemyedia layanan itu juga belum terlalu bagus.

Pembangunan sektor kesehatan sebagai bagian dari pembangunan kesejahteraan sosial adalah tanggung jawab Pemerintah Indonesia. Dan itu harus didukung partisipasi masyarakat, “Keberadaan Mayapada Hospital ini merupakan salah satu wujud prakarsa masyarakat dalam pelayanan kesehatan berkualitas,” kata fungsionaris Partai Golongan Karya tersebut.

Lebih lanjut Menteri Agung Laksono mengatakan, pembangunan sektor kesehatan, pendidikan, dan pendapatan masyarakat, merupakan hal sangat penting untuk meningkatkan kualitas sumber daya manusia. “setiap prakarsa dari swasta yang berkomitmen di bidang kesehatan ataupun pendidikan pantas diapresiasi,” ujarnya.

Menjelang beroperasinya BPJS Kesehatan di awal 2014, semua rumah sakit perlu mempersiapkan diri. Sebab itu merupakan sebuah era baru pelayanan kesehatan, kata Menteri Agung Laksono.

Kettering Hospital says it is working to eliminate risks highlighted in a report by a national watchdog.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) regulator has claimed the trust is one of 20 hospitals in the second of six bands ranked by the risk caused to patients.

Band one includes those hospitals deemed by the CQC to be the highest risk and which it says do not offer safe and good-quality care to patients. Northampton General Hospital is one of 24 trusts in that band.

Among the risks identified at Kettering Hospital were cancelled operations, aftercare of hip fracture patients and the hospital’s governance.

The hospital was also marked down after a “never event”, a serious procedural incident, took place this year.

Kettering Hospital’s chief operating officer, Sue Watkinson, said the hospital had already addressed many of the risks highlighted by the CQC.

She added: “We welcome this new initiative to provide a comprehensive and up-to-date system that monitors the many different activities, and potential risks, that modern hospitals have to manage.

“Overall the CQC found no evidence of risk at KGH for 150 indicators covering a very wide range of hospital activity including compassionate care, mortality, infections, discharge, overall experience and waiting times.

“Maintaining high standards of care and clinical safety are our top priority and, in addition to these external checks, we have a very robust internal safety and quality system.

“Our internal system recently attracted national attention for the way we monitor a wide range of patient experience and safety indicators using modern technology so that we are alerted to any concerns and can act on them immediately.

“The new CQC system has highlighted some risks for us to tackle – most of which we were already working on, and some of which are looking in to.”

She also said two of the risks highlighted by the CQC regarding stroke care no longer applied to Kettering because services had been transferred to the county’s acute stroke centre at Northampton General Hospital.

Source: northantstelegraph.co.uk

A quarter of hospital trusts in England are at raised risk of providing poor care, a review by the regulator shows.

The findings are based on monitoring by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) of a host of data, including death rates, serious errors and patient surveys.

It found 44 out of 161 trusts fell into the two highest risk categories.

The exercise has been carried out as part of the regulator’s new hospital inspection regime, which will see inspectors go into every trust by 2015.

The first inspections got under way in September and by Christmas the first 18 will have been completed.

It will result in every trust being given a rating of either ‘outstanding’, ‘good’, ‘requires improvement’ or ‘inadequate’ as part of a shake-up in the system ordered after the Stafford Hospital scandal.

How the highest risk trusts compare

Health Foundation chief executive Dr Jennifer Dixon, who is also a CQC board member, said: “It makes sense to use the wealth of routinely available data in the NHS to try to spot patterns which might identify or predict poor quality care for patients.

“The intelligent monitoring tool can never by itself be a crystal ball, but it is a great start and will surely develop over time.”

Dr Mark Porter, head of the British Medical Association, said publishing the data was an “important step” towards improving transparency across the NHS, informing and empowering patients and identifying under-performing hospitals.

But he added: “Hospitals are large, complex organisations so we need to avoid oversimplifying or reducing vast amounts of data to a simple band or rating.”

Labour Shadow Health Minister Jamie Reed said: “David Cameron should be ashamed that he’s put so many of England’s hospitals in this position.

“He siphoned £3bn out of the NHS front-line to blow on a back-office re-organisation nobody voted for. Hospitals were left on a financial knife-edge and they are clearly struggling to maintain standards of patient care after more than three years of chaos.”

But Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said: “Sadly, under the last government, a lack of transparency about poor care meant problems went unchecked for too long, some times with tragic consequences for patients.

“This government is being honest with the public about the quality of care at their local hospitals, and taking tough action where standards aren’t up to scratch. Patients and staff deserve nothing less.”

Source: bbc.co.uk

JAKARTA – Mayapada Group melalui Mayapada Healthcare Group meresmikan Mayapada Hospital Jakarta Selatan rumah sakit modern bertaraf internasional yang terletak di Jalan Lebak Bulus Cilandak, Jakarta Selatan.

Dalam peresmian tersebut, tampak hadir beberapa menteri kabinet bersatu jilid II, salah satunya Menteri Badan Usaha Milik Negara (BUMN) Dahlan Iskan.

Namun dalam kehadiran kali ini, Dahlan tidak seperti biasa menggunakan pakaian khas dengan kemeja putih serta sepatu kets berwarna putih Demi Indonesia (DI). Kali ini mantan Direktur Utama PLN ini memakai jas hitam dengan kemeja putih serta sepatu pantovel dan kaus kaki putih.

Namun dibalik gaya flamboyannya, apa tanggapan Dahlan atas peluncuran rumah sakit ini?

“Hebat, bagus yah, saya kan orang Surabaya, jadi saya kenal lama dengan beliau karena sama-sama orang Surabaya,” ungkap Dahlan kepada Okezone saat ditemui di Mayapada Hospital, Jakarta, Kamis (24/10/2013).

Menurut Dahlan, sosok Chairman Mayapada Group, Tahir merupakan orang yang sangat bekerja keras, gigih.

“Makanya sekarang beliau menjadi konglomerat,” ucapnya.

Rumah sakit ini berdiri diatas tanah seluas 3,8 hektar dengan gedung setinggi 10 lantai dengan menghabiskan dana investasi sebesar Rp1,5 triliun.

Chairman Mayapada Group, Tahir mengatakan, membangun rumah sakit ini sebagai bentuk dedikasi tinggi Mayapada Healthcare Group kepada bangsa Indonesia dalam memberikan layanan kesehatan yang lebih baik.

“Hidup secara sehat adalah landasan utama selama di dunia, untuk itu kami ingin memberikan karya terbaik bagi bangsa ini melalui kesehatan,” ungkap Tahir. (kie) (wdi)

Sumber: okezone.com

Jakarta, Seruu.com – Anggota Komisi IX DPR RI, Rieke Diah Pitaloka geram dengan masih adanya komersialisasi dan perlakuan diskriminatif terhadap pasien yang dilakukan oleh Rumah Sakit milik pemerintah.

Hal tersebut terjadi saat istri dari Uchok Sky Khadafi, Direktur Forum Indonesia untuk Transparansi Anggaran (FITRA) yang menderita kanker payudara, stadium 4 dan membutuhkan pelayanan Kemotherapi di RS Dharmais.

Istri Uchok adalah pemegang kartu Jamkesmas dan sudah melakukan pendaftaran dari tanggal 17 Oktober lalu dan harus dikemoterapi tanggal 21 Oktober, tapi pihak RS Dharmais mengatakan tidak ada kamar hingga hari ini, Kamis (24/10/2013).

Ketika Rieke menyampaikan permasalahan tersebut kepada Dirjen BUK Kemenkes, pihak yang bersangkutan memberikan jawaban via SMS:

“Ya Bu, saat ini waiting list untuk khemo di RS DHARMAIS ada 103 orang. Dirut sedang membuka ruangan baru agar bisa mengatasi problem antrian. Semoga cepat bisa diatasi. Salam”

Tentu, lanjut politisi PDI Perjuangan ini, jawaban tersebut bukan sebuah solusi. Pasalnya, berdasarkan informasi dari sang suami pasien, Uchok ada pasien yang daftar tanggal 22 Oktober dan tanggal 23 Oktober langsung bisa mendapatkan pelayanan kemoterapi.

“Biaya kemoterapi bisa puluhan juta,” kata Rieke saat ditemui Seruu.com di Gedung DPR RI, Jakarta (24/10/2013).

Rieke melihat, ada indikasi “permainan menyogok bagian pendaftaran jika ingin cepat “dilayani”. Karenanya, Rieke mendesak agar pihak RS Dharmais sebagai rumah sakit negara di bawah Kemenkes yang didanai APBN, agar memberikan pelayanan pada para pasien.

“Jangan mendiskriminasi pasien,” tegasnya.

Selain itu, Rieke juga mendesak agar Dirut RS Dharmais mengevaluasi karyawan yang berindikasi “memeras pasien”. Apabila Dirut tidak mampu menyelesaikan persoalan-persoalan seperti ini, dirinya akan mendesak agar Kemenkes mencopot Dirut RS Dharmais

“Demikian pernyataan ini saya buat, untuk menghentikan komersialisasi kesehatan yang mengorbankan nyawa rakyat,” tandasnya. [Cesare]

Sumber: seruu.com