Hospices should open their doors to marginalised people
They already epitomise the best of local community health services. Now it is time for hospices to seek out those on the fringes of their communities, says Steve Jamieson
At the beginning of the hospice movement it was made quite clear that the patients who occupied the beds were, for the most part, those living with end stage carcinoma.
Marginalised people, including the homeless, should be considered for hospice care. Pic credit: Alamy
Once hospices became mainstream rather than exceptional the call went out for them to open their doors to people with a range of conditions such as heart failure, motor neurone disease and other neurological illnesses. It took one or two hospices to start the ball rolling by admitting patients who did not have cancer. Others quickly followed, embracing an enhanced level of inclusivity.
Hospices are the epitome of the best of
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