By Anthony Barich
Australia’s largest Catholic not for profit private healthcare group has urged the State Government to turn its attention to additional funding for palliative care after the Voluntary Euthanasia Bill’s defeat on 22 September proved it is “not the answer”.
St John of God Health Care Medical Services director Dr Lachlan Henderson said the bill’s “resounding” defeat 24 votes to 11 confirms that “it is unnecessary, given modern pain control and palliative care techniques such as those we offer at our highly regarded Murdoch Community Hospice and our other excellent palliative care services in our hospitals in WA and Victoria.
“We now urge the Government to turn its attention to allocating additional funds to palliative care in order to increase inpatient and community services, as well as train and employ the necessary additional doctors, nurses, and support workers,” he said.
Dr Henderson said that the Voluntary Euthanasia Bill would have placed an added and unwanted onus on doctors and radically changed the current “healing” relationship between doctor and patient.
Irrespective of euthanasia being contrary to SJOGHC’s Catholic mission and values, the legislation was also “simply bad medicine”, he said.
“It would have undermined patient trust in their doctors – as in the Netherlands and Belgium where voluntary euthanasia is legal – and it has been shown to have damaging effects on doctors who provide it,” he said.
Dr Henderson said legalising euthanasia would permanently and radically change the ethos of health care provision in Western Australia and would do nothing to protect a vulnerable group in society.
Contrary to the bill proponents’ claims that euthanasia avoids the possibility of people dying without dignity, SJOGHC’s holistic approach respects the dignity and worth of each person, affirms life and regards dying as a normal process, he said.
“This underpins its delivery of palliative care, a service in which it continues to advance and excel,” he added.
The group’s services have attracted commendations from the Australian Council on Healthcare Standards for ensuring the care of the dying is managed with dignity and comfort.
The group has also implemented End of Life Care Pathways which reflect leading practice in care of the dying, in collaboration with other palliative care agencies.
“Voluntary euthanasia or physician assisted suicide are not part of palliative care practice, which among other things provides relief from pain, integrates psychological and spiritual aspects of patient care, and offers support systems to patients and their families,” Dr Henderson said.
SJOGHC has also produced Advance Health Care Directives in WA, which ensure a patient’s personal treatment decisions are recorded and respected, and set out the rights of adults to make and have respected certain decisions regarding their future medical treatment within a legal framework, he said.
SJOGHC operates four hospitals in Western Australia, seven hospitals in Victoria and two hospitals in New South Wales, as well as pathology services in WA and Victoria, and Social Outreach and Advocacy services reaching out to people experiencing disadvantage in Australia, New Zealand and Asia-Pacific.