When Sandra Nyaguwa was told her baby daughter, Nala, was going to die, she wasn’t interested, at first, in turning to the palliative-care service offered by Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital.
Nala was diagnosed with a heart defect for which she received surgery in May, but although the defect was repaired, her health did not recover.
“The hospital staff informed me that they referred Nala to the pain and palliative care team as they could not do anything more to treat and save her,” said Ms Nyaguwa.
“After having so much hope, being in and out of hospital for a year, and being told that my baby was not going to recover, I was a mess. I was exhausted. At first, I did not want to make use of their services, but after speaking to the nurses, I felt so supported and understood during the most difficult time of my life. I believe that they genuinely cared.”
Ms Nyaguwa said that besides supporting her emotionally and mentally, the nurses helped her understand how to make Nala more comfortable and to reduce her pain.
Her daughter succumbed to her illness a month after her first birthday in August.
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that each year 40 million people worldwide need palliative care, with only 14% receiving it.
Historically, palliative care in South Africa was solely a role performed by hospices and NGOs. However, in 2017 the national Department of Health introduced a policy pushing for the integration of this service into public health-care services.
The importance of palliative care for both patients and their families is something highlighted on October 14 each year for World Hospice and Palliative Care Day.
At an event held two days earlier at Groote Schuur Hospital, the provincial health department’s chief of operations, Dr Saadiq Kariem, said providing palliative care across the public health system had come with challenges, but he promised to uphold the department’s commitment to the service.
He also spoke about the challenges that came with transferring a terminal patient from a hospital to their home while continuing to offer them the same care.
Juanita Arendse, chief director of emergency and clinical services support at the department, said: “While palliative care asserts a patient-centric approach to health care that recognises quality of life and appropriate care that supports life, grief, and loss, it also brings to the forefront the importance of appropriate physical, psychosocial, and spiritual support needed for treatment of palliative-care patients, their support and their family members affected.”
Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital professional nurse Alicia Dauds said offering dedicated pain and palliative-care services was important in specialised tertiary health facilities to ease the pain and discomfort of patients.
“The services that we provide make a great impact on the lives of our patients and their families, ”she said.
“It takes the commitment of a multidisciplinary team such as expert physicians, nurses, social workers, and even religious leaders to effectively treat a patient,” she said, adding that the treatment of one patient was never the same.
“A patient battling cancer will need different pain management interventions compared to a patient with organ failure who may need only emotional counselling and support.”
Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital CEO Dr Anita Parbhoo said: “We strive to continue making a difference in the lives of our patients and their families at a time when expert care and compassion is most needed.”
