Reflecting on The Past Year

Otago Community Hospice has continued to serve as a centre of excellence, providing specialist palliative care to over 1,000 patients and their whānau throughout Otago. However, our role has extended far beyond direct service provision. We have emerged as a leading voice in the national conversation about hospice sustainability and have spearheaded innovative regional collaboration models that will shape the future of palliative care across Te Waipounamu and beyond.

National Advocacy for Equity and Sustainability

Following the completion of the national hospice Equity and Sustainability Pathway work, Otago Community Hospice collaborated with a group of like-minded specialist hospice services across the country. This past financial year marked a pivotal moment in these efforts with the completion of the Martin Jenkins report, Sustainable Funding for Hospice Services (link to report).

The report’s evidence-based findings have become cornerstone evidence in national funding advocacy, with our financial model serving as a benchmark for sustainable hospice operations. Our direct engagement with Government reached new heights through comprehensive briefings to the Minister of Health, the Director General of Health, and associated Ministers, highlighting the critical and rapidly growing funding gap that threatens essential hospice services nationwide.

The stark reality we presented locally was that Crown funding covers only 60% of our clinical services costs, requiring us to fundraise $3 million annually to maintain services. The cost of raising that shortfall brings the total needed to $5 million.

It is important to note that while Otago Community Hospice is not yet in the same precarious financial position as some of our colleagues, this is only because we have been fortunate to rely on our generous community's donations to fill funding gaps. However, this capacity should not be mistaken for validation of the current funding model. We have a contract to provide services to the Crown, but it is donations that keep us afloat—this is not sustainable.

Multi-faceted Influence in National Policy Development

OCH has supported key staff working on aspects of the National Palliative Care Steering Group (link) and Hospice New Zealand advocacy work. Louisa Ingham, Director of Nursing and Clinical Services, served as co-chair of the Adult Model of Care group, which developed a sustainable framework to ensure all adult New Zealanders receive appropriate and coordinated palliative care, wherever they live. Christina Bowen, Whānau Team Coordinator/Education Coordinator, is a member of the Equity Group responsible for providing recommendations on achieving equitable access to, and outcomes from, palliative care services across Aotearoa.

David Butler, Medical Director, and Deb Connor, Director of Quality and Risk, have been intimately involved in the data project work led by Hospice New Zealand.