[Isabel Michaelis]

#85370

I feel the department I work in is actually doing well as a team to treat and care for infants and children. But we are all pretty bad in palliative care in the acute setting- I think sometimes we just forget then to do the right thing as the patient load is so high. Also, I don’t think many have had training in palliative care and it is exactly as described before, you mainly want to get it out of you way and concentrate then on the child we maybe can still save.

We are having the Child healthcare problem identification program (CHIP) meeting every week, where we discuss death of children in our department and mostly it does concentrate on what could have been done to help that the child survived and very seldom, how could we have helped the care taker and the child to make their death less painful.
A problem is also that the MDT is not involved in those discussions.

We don’t have a palliative care team yet, I hope we can set up one very soon.

[Tracy]

#85382

Thanks for sharing your situation Isabel. It’s evident that your team cares deeply about the well-being of the infants and children you treat, but sadly that there’s a gap in palliative care in the acute setting which I think quite honestly is where there is a big gap in many facilities around SA.

The pressure of a high patient load can indeed make it challenging to prioritize palliative care, especially when there’s a focus on saving lives and not end-of-life care. It’s completely understandable that without adequate training and support in palliative care, it can feel overwhelming and difficult to know how best to approach these situations.

The desire to establish a palliative care team is a positive step forward. Having dedicated resources and expertise in this area can greatly improve the quality of care provided to children and their families during such challenging times. It’s clear that you’re committed to providing the best possible care to your patients and their families, and I hope that with time and support, your department can establish a palliative care program that meets the needs of everyone involved.

[Isabel Michaelis]

#85387

Thank you, Tracy.

We do have a very active oncology department, where CHOC and a social worker are available. But, again, as the patient load is so high, those skills and knowledge don’t spill over (yet) to the children in PICU or the general wards.

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