Increase Paediatric Palliative Care in KZN, SA

2024 started with a bang! With our increase in staff and more people becoming aware of the services we can offer, referrals are coming in at a rate of knots. It is only April and we have already provided services to 150 new patients. 32 of these beautiful children have passed away – knowing that we were able to make a difference in their lives and in the lives of their parents is humbling but also a huge blessing.

As I have mentioned before, palliative care is not only about death and dying. It is about living a quality life that may be short, but is pain and symptom free with caregivers who are empowered to make decisions that are in the best interests of their little ones.

While our work is difficult, we are always energised by seeing the impact we have, not only on our patients but also on other health care workers across our province. Recently, one of our teenagers suffered a regrowth in his brain tumour. This particular tumour was not amenable to chemotherapy and the site prevented surgical removal. The only option was palliative radiotherapy. On completion of the treatment he was discharged home relatively well, but home was in a deeply rural area.

After a few months’ symptom free at home, he developed seizures. In our Health Care System, he would usually have ended up in a busy Emergency Department waiting to be seen by health care providers who knew nothing about him. In this case, after his family contacted our team, we were able to arrange a senior Emergency Department consultant to see him quickly at his local hospital. Here they rapidly and appropriately dealt with his symptoms, accessed the local hospice to visit him in the emergency room on the same day and get him back home. This young man had care and support throughout his illness over an area spanning more than 200km. He passed away peacefully last night in his own bed surrounded by his loved ones. As devastated as we all are, we know his life was much better for having known our team.