BEIJING: To fulfill the wish of a terminally ill patient surnamed Wang — who had dreamed of traveling to Chengdu, Sichuan province, and having drinks while chilling and listening to music at a local bistro — medical workers at a hospital in Beijing set up a projector broadcasting street views of the city famous for its relaxing vibe and played a namesake folk song for her.
The scene that played out around a year ago at Beijing Haidian Hospital’s palliative care center has epitomized the facility’s goal to “provide end-of-life care in a way that patients would wish for “and to “inject a sense of liveliness into the wards”, said Zhang Fuchun, president of the hospital.
From the time that the hospice care center was set up in 2017 until April this year, it increased the number of beds from six to 50 and received nearly 700 terminally ill patients, said Zhang during a recent news conference.
Haidian district in Beijing was one of the first regions tasked by the National Health Commission to pilot hospice care in 2017.
Last week, the commission announced a third batch of pilot programs, saying such programs now cover 185 prefectural regions across the country.
It requires that each pilot region have at least one palliative ward by 2025, and community or rural clinics are encouraged to set up their own hospice care wards.
“After six years’ work, China has basically set up a hospice care system that combines hospitals, community-level or home-based services, facilities that integrate medical and elderly care services, and remote services,” the Chinese Association for Life Care said in late May. –The Daily Mail-China Daily news exchange item
