Palliative Care in Hyderabad

At the outset, on behalf of Pain Relief and Palliative Care Society, kindly accept our heartfelt gratitude for extending support your invaluable support to our activities. 

COMMUNITY OUTREACH PROGRAM- The Chevella Mandal Community Based Palliative Care Program

Most chronically ill people prefer to spend most of their time at home and they are in desperate need of accessible medical care to help them cope with chronic and life limiting illness. An integrated and well-designed community based palliative care program is the only realistic model for achieving significant coverage and continuity of services for the terminally ill. We provide continuity of care by a group of dedicated volunteers in Chevella Mandal is located in the Ranga Reddy district of Andhra Pradesh. Regular visits by a team of palliative care physicians, nurses and physiotherapists extend care beyond the hospital setting.

For the first time in the country and the State, health authorities started taking concrete measures to decentralise and provide palliative care facilities in districts. In this direction, a few days ago, the State government launched a five-bed palliative care facility at the Govt Area Hospital in Chevella, Rangareddy district, to look after terminally ill patients. It was inaugurated by Hon'ble Minister Sri. Laxma Reddy, Dept of Health & Family Welfare on 13th October 2017.  

Seven more similar facilities will be set up before March, 2019, in various parts of the Telangana State This is for the first time that authorities here have managed to tap into the financial funding, which is available through National Programme for Palliative Care (NPPC).

Keeping in mind the difficulties that such patients have to face, authorities are collaborating with Pain Relief and Palliative Care Society (PRPCS) to start 10-bed palliative care facilities in Area Hospitals across the State.As far as public health institutions are concerned in Hyderabad, so far the palliative care for both the Telugu-speaking States is confined to MNJ Institute of Oncology & Regional Cancer Centre.  End-stage cancer patients from TS and AP have to come to MNJ Cancer Hospital to access palliative care facilities and get opioid medications like morphine, fentanyl and methadone. 

Palliative care facility at Chevella, which is managed by PRPCS, will provide in-patient, daycare and home care services to all 52 villages of Chevella mandal in Rangareddy district through an outreach programme.

“This is for the first time in the country that such treatment facilities are available for patients in villages. There are a lot of challenges but things are changing rapidly because the Centre and States have started acknowledging palliative care as a big issue,”

Other on Activities of Pain Relief and Palliative Care Society 

HOME BASED PALLIATIVE CARE PROGRAM- Supporting Patients and Families Where They Want to Be

The “Life at Your Doorstep” program provides a comprehensive home care program, 24 hour/7 days a week to patients and families struggling with advanced and terminal illness in the city of Hyderabad and Secunderabad. This program is the only home based palliative service in the entire city of Hyderabad - a city of 12 million people. The dedicated home care team not only attends to physical problems such as severe pain, breathlessness, malignant wounds, and confusion, but provides skilled psychosocial and spiritual support. Educating and preparing the family for expected changes at the end of life is another key role of the trained team.

Palliative Care for Children 

MNJ Institute of Oncology has a unique pain relief and pediatric palliative care program for the special needs of the children which is one of its kind in India supported by Pain Relief and Palliative Care Society. We support children with cancer and their families in their battle to overcome the illness by providing the emotional support, counseling, ‘food for survival’, travelling expenses, special school for children, rehabilitation and recreational activities.

 KUMUDINI DEVI HOSPICE AND PALLIATIVE CARE CENTRE- Living well and dying better

We have a full-fledged Hospice. It is a 24 bedded in-patient facility.  This hospice is provides a state of the art care for people living with advanced life-limiting illnesses such as cancer and other chronic diseases.

 In the hospice, palliative care is being provided free of cost to adults and children. At a conservative estimate, the institute is providing direct palliative care to 1000 inpatients per year, i.e. those who need inpatient care for difficult pain and other symptom management and an end – of-life-care. This centre is one of the training centers and research center for palliative care in India.

Kindly appreciate that any attempt to objectively quantify the work we do, namely providing palliative and end of life care to terminally ill patients is a difficult process as there is no measure what so ever as to how well a patient dies.

We shall soon share the annual report of PRPCS. 

Links:

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