In a new paper published by the New Zealand Medical Journal, Dr Catherine De Souza issues a dire warning on the state of palliative care in New Zealand.
Dr De Souza is chair of the Palliative Care Collaborative Aotearoa and the NZ Branch of the Australia and New Zealand Society of Palliative Care.
Dr De Souza assessed the infrastructure, workforce, quality, accessibility and worth of our palliative care offerings and found the state of palliative care in poor condition.
"It makes weep when I see people in their 90s being admitted to hospital out of hours, because there is nowhere else to go and and there is no-one available to look after them because they are dying. It shouldn't be like that," says De Souza.
Read more:
A News Media story about Dr Catherine's research
Dr Catherine's paper published in the NZ Medical Journal