The Irish Hospice Foundation is recruiting individuals to implement its new Hospice Friendly Hospitals (HFH) programme.
The initiative will be the first of its kind in Europe and is being developed in partnership with the HSE. It follows a pilot programme that has been in place in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda, Co Louth since 2004.
It is aimed at implementing hospice principles in hospitals and improving the services offered to the dying and their families. Of the estimated 30,000 people who die in Ireland each year, more than half die in hospital.
"We're looking at changing the culture of care in Irish hospitals," said Mervyn Taylor, manager of the HFH programme. "Someone recently described to me the death of a close friend in hospital. The care was brilliant but they couldn't cure him. He then went into palliative care, which was excellent, but once he died no one knew what happened in the mortuary - so we want to look at integrating every aspect of care.
"A dying person can be very vulnerable. It can be lonely, frightening and even painful. Many deaths are predictable and it's such a profoundly human event that we need to look at accommodating people's needs."
More than half of all the hospitals in Ireland with an A&E department have expressed an interest in the HFH programme, as well as a "significant" number of community hospitals, said Mr Taylor.
Ten development co-ordinators for the programme are being recruited in Dublin, Galway, Sligo, Waterford, Wexford, Kilkenny, Tipperary, Louth, Meath, Cavan and Monaghan, to work in acute and community hospitals.
A project manager and a project worker will be hired to work with three Dublin hospitals on developing a framework of standards to deal with death, dying and bereavement. Training for staff will be provided by a development support manager. The closing date for applications is November 17th.
The programme is divided into two phases, with the first expected to be launched in February 2007. All applications will be reviewed by the Royal College of Surgeons, and a shortlist will be drawn up for the Irish Hospice Foundation to interview.
See www.hospicefriendly
hospitals.net