Nikki Kaye
MP for Auckland Central

18 December 2009

Mercy Hospice Auckland benefits from extra Govt funding

I am pleased to announce that Health Minister Hon Tony Ryall has pledged an extra $150,000 in Government funding for Mercy Hospice Auckland.

Hospices got an extra $15 million in this year's Budget, and $1.3 million of that was put aside for further improving access to palliative care services. That's where this extra money has come from.

Since the Budget announcement, Hospice New Zealand and the Ministry of Health worked out criteria for how the $1.3 million should be spent, to help ensure fair levels of public funding and consistent standards of care between hospices.

The other hospices receiving funding from the $1.3 million are:
Franklin Hospice, Hospice South Auckland, Hospice Eastern Bay of Plenty, Waipuna Hospice (Bay of Plenty), Rotorua Community Hospice, Taupo Hospice, Gisborne Palliative Care Trust, Nurse Maude Hospice (Canterbury), South Canterbury Hospice, and the Otago Community Hospice.

Hospices provide terminally ill people and their families with the services and support they need. In many communities, hospices provide palliative care in the home, as well as at in-patient facilities.

I have met several families who Mercy has helped, and it is great to know that they will see the benefit of this extra funding.

Mercy Hospice offer care and provide a true partnership between hospice professionals, volunteers, and the community.

ENDS

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