Family First NZ is welcoming the Private Members Bill from NZ First MP Tanya Unkovich - ‘Improving Access to Palliative Care Bill’ – which seeks to guarantee that every New Zealander has the right to receive high-quality and compassionate palliative care whenever it is needed.

Demand for this specialist medical care will only increase significantly in the near future. Our population is ageing, and therefore the number of people requiring palliative care is forecast to increase by approximately 25% over the next 15 years and will be more than double that by 2061.

Previous Governments have made little effort to address this growing problem and to increase funding for this essential service. Some hospitals have no specialist palliative care services at all.

The NZ Herald recently reported: “A specialist paediatric palliative care (PPC) doctor says New Zealand is falling behind other nations in its care of terminally ill children and the Government must step up to help.”

The latest review of the End of Life Choice Act also highlighted that one in four applicants weren’t receiving palliative care at the time of their application for euthanasia, which may have influenced their decision.

The priority must be to improve the provision of high-quality palliative care and practical support. This should be available in all areas of New Zealand. The highest quality of pain control and palliative medicine should be given priority in medical training so that every New Zealander can benefit. This bill will help achieve that.

Patients facing death have a fundamental human right – a right to receive the very best palliative care, love and support that we can give. This is real death with dignity.

Family First is calling on all political parties to unite and ‘fast-track’ this bill, for the benefit of all New Zealanders with a terminal illness.

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