The Department of Health is updating its palliative care policy for adults and is conducting a public consultation to get the views of individuals, organisations and communities throughout the country on palliative and end of life care.

We are very keen that the public has an opportunity to participate and we would be very grateful if you could share the links below with community groups and organisations throughout your county.

There are two versions of the survey, one for individuals and one for organisations.

We are asking individuals to participate in the public consultation by completing the online survey here.  This should take no longer than 5 minutes

We are asking organisations / community groups to participate in the public consultation by completing the online survey here.  This should take no longer than 10 mins.

The closing date for the public consultation is 5pm on Monday 25 October.

Further background information on palliative care and the public consultation can be found on the Departments website here.

What Palliative Care is

Palliative care is an approach that improves the quality of life of patients and their families who are facing problems associated with life-threatening illness. It prevents and relieves suffering through the early identification, correct assessment and treatment of pain and other problems, whether physical, psychosocial or spiritual (WHO, 2020). Palliative care can be accessed in a range of settings in Ireland including at home, in hospices, hospitals and residential care facilities.

Policy Update  

The Programme for Government 2020 commits to a new Palliative Care Policy for Adults which will update the existing policy contained in the 2001 Report of the National Advisory Committee on Palliative Care. The aim of the policy update is to ensure that people and their families can access a level of palliative care service that is appropriate to their needs regardless of age, care setting or diagnosis.

The Department of Health is seeking the views of the public on palliative care services in Ireland and the public’s priorities for the palliative care policy update. The public consultation will allow the Department of Health to hear the views from a wide range of stakeholders and the findings will inform the policy update.

The information from the public consultation will be analysed by the All Ireland Institute of Hospice and Palliative Care (AIIHPC) who will produce a report for the Department of Health. Everyone is welcome to respond to this consultation and we hope that patients and their families, the public, carers, voluntary organisations, health and social care providers, health professionals and representative organisations will participate.

Thanks you

Social Care Integration Unit

Department of Health