New Zealand ranks third in world in end-of-life care

New Zealand ranks third in world in end-of-life care

A report by the Economist Intelligence Unit has ranked New Zealand third in the world in end-of-life care. The Quality of Death index puts the UK first and Australia second, while the Phillipines, Bangladesh and Iraq fall to the bottom of the 80 country list. New Zealand had a combined score of 87.6%, with the UK and Australia scoring 93.6% and 91.6% respectively.

Hospice North Shore’s Chief Executive Jan Nichols believes it is the holistic approach of the modern Hospice movement that makes the difference. “Here at Hospice North Shore we follow quite closely the founding principles of the modern Hospice movement,” she says. “We believe our holistic and compassionate approach, not only to the person who is dying but to his or her family, has a benefit that reaches far beyond our patients.”

This belief is borne out in the scores New Zealand earned in the five categories, with our community engagement scoring highest.

The Index rated countries’ end-of-life care out of 100 in five areas:

• The palliative and healthcare environment (NZ ranked 8th with a score of 76.7%)

• Human resources (NZ ranked 5th with a score of 81.4%)

• Affordability of care (NZ ranked 2nd equal with 10 other countries at 87.5%). Those countries that scored higher had their palliative care fully funded by the government. In New Zealand Hospice care is free but Hospices are charities funded by a combination of government and community support.

• Quality of care (NZ ranked 4th at 95%).

• Community engagement (NZ ranked first equal with Belgium).

“We want to thank the amazing people of North Shore and New Zealand for being so engaged with this wonderful, but often quite challenging cause,” says Jan Nichols. “We simply couldn’t offer the high quality of care that we do without the backing of our community.”

The Quality of Death Index, commissioned by the Lien Foundation, a Singaporean philanthropic organisation, is based on extensive research and interviews with over 120 palliative care experts from across the world. It shows that in general, income levels are a strong indicator of the availability and quality of palliative care, with wealthy countries clustered at the top. Australia and New Zealand take second and third place, as they did in 2010, while rich European and Asian countries dominate the top 20, along with the US in 9th place and Canada in 11th.

ENDS

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