Still working towards a sustainable future

Te Tumu Whakarae Chief Executive Tony Gray brings updates on strategies Nelson Tasman Hospice are using to combat the uncertain future of hospices nationwide. He writes:

A year ago, I wrote in the Summer ‘Hospice Matters’ about the challenges which faced the whole hospice sector and the work being undertaken to ensure a greater equity focus and a sustainable future for specialist palliative care services. Twelve months on, and while much has been achieved to provide some optimism for the future of hospice palliative care services, it would be true to say that the overall workforce and funding crisis facing the sector remains very significant as we head into 2024.

At home Nelson Tasman Hospice embarked on a series of change and transformation initiatives which we believe will assist us in achieving greater equity and sustainability, but full implementation and measurable outcomes from this activity, is still very much work in progress.

Ultimately what is clear, is that it will be the continued support of the community we serve, that will be crucial in the short/medium term, as the whole health sector struggles to meet the growing needs of New Zealanders living well and dying well.

On behalf of all my Nelson Tasman Hospice colleagues, the patients, and families, who have been cared for and supported in 2023, and for those that we will care for and support in 2024 – thank you; we simply can’t do, what we do, without you.

The Nelson Tasman Hospice team would like to wish you and your whānau, love, and peace this festive season. We hope that you will be able to take this time to be with those we still have and remember those who we have lost.

Meri Kirihimete.