Rambling Rich – March 2022
Hi Waipuna Hospice supporter,
I am composing this newsletter piece just as we have moved to phase three of the omicron outbreak and shortly after Russia has invaded Ukraine. What a changeable world we are living in these days.
Waipuna Hospice continues to provide care for our loved ones in the Western Bay of Plenty despite these events. It would be fair to say that things are much harder now, we have more precautions (eg PPE) in place, and test staff regularly with RAT tests as per the MOH guidance, as we serve a patient group that is classified as a high priority vulnerable population.
We are mostly working from home (well our healthcare service is) and this adds another strain on staff – ensuring that we maintain communication and assist as much as possible as staff are so important to our service.
Our shops and fundraising teams are finding things extremely hard – and we continue to need the essential dollars that these important parts of the organisation raise for us. Without a doubt, we are down on the income we need to provide our specialist palliative care services, and this will make meeting our budgeted income this year almost impossible – thank goodness we have some reserves – but these are finite, not infinite. Thank you to all of you who continue to support us throughout this tough time – you are our rock!
Hospice services are an essential healthcare service but we are still not recognised in terms of funding as such. We hope that there may be some light at the end of this fiscal tunnel with the completion of the Healthcare reforms.
My question to you all is: should hospice and palliative care services be equitably available to all New Zealanders?
If you answer yes to this….please support us and help advocate this message in any way you can.
Kia kaha,
Rich
This update was first published in our newsletter – Waipuna Connections, issue 79.
