Hospices in New Zealand work within the scope of the End of Life Choice Act, not against it. Hospices are engaged in promoting palliative care, not opposing assisted dying.

The philosophy and purpose of palliative care is to neither hasten nor postpone death and through an holistic approach, help patients live fully until the end. 

Good palliative care is founded on a trusting relationship between patient, family, whānau and the health professional.  Dying is a natural process and part of life.  The palliative care focus is on helping people to live well until they die.

As at January 2024, 681 New Zealanders with a terminal illness had had a medically assisted death. This represents just  1% of those that died since that Act came into law in November 2021.

In the same period, just over 20,000 New Zealanders died a natural death under hospice care.

Hospices in New Zealand believe that improving access to hospice and palliative care services should be a priority for Government. We know that 34,000 Kiwis could benefit from palliative care in one year alone.   Fairer funding for palliative care will ensure everyone receives quality care regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, socio-economic status or location.

We would like to encourage people to talk about their wishes when it comes to the end of life, informing family and friends what is important to them.