Original title: What is hospice care? What are the hospitalization standards? Reporters visiting pilot areas

In recent years, hospice care services that can help end-stage patients pass away in comfort, serenity and dignity have attracted more and more attention from patients and families. The National Health Commission has launched three batches of hospice care pilot projects, which have covered 185 cities (districts).

Medical institutions engaged in hospice care

It shall meet several basic requirements

Beijing is one of the first pilot areas for hospice care in China. In order to improve the relevant work, recently, the Beijing local standard, the Hospice Care Service Standard for Medical Institutions, was formulated by the Beijing Municipal Health Commission for public comment. The Norms put forward a number of basic requirements for medical institutions to engage in hospice care.

What is hospice care? Beijing's Hospice Care Service Standard for Medical Institutions clearly states that it is a service to provide physical, psychological, and spiritual care and humanistic care for end-stage patients before dying by controlling pain and discomfort symptoms, so as to improve the quality of life and help patients die in comfort, serenity, and dignity. The medical institution shall have the hospice care practice registration, set up a service team with doctors and nurses with professional qualifications as the core, and receive special training in hospice care at the municipal level and above and pass the examination.

There are four main inpatient standards for hospice care stipulated in Beijing's Hospice Care Service Standards for Medical Institutions.

First, it is definitely diagnosed as advanced malignant tumor with intractable pain symptoms; Second, other chronic diseases are in the terminal stage, and have intractable painful symptoms; Third, elderly end-of-life patients with persistent failure of important organs, perennial bedridden, elderly, and in a state of intractable pain; Fourth, the expected survival period is less than 6 months.

For patients who do not meet the hospice care hospitalization standards, and who know and understand the concept of hospice care, and agree to accept hospice care services, medical institutions should give patients medication guidance, wound maintenance, emotional counseling, consultation and referral services and other hospice care outpatient guidance.

Beijing's Hospice Care Service Standard for Medical Institutions also requires that service team members, including doctors in charge, nurses in charge, and medical social workers, should conduct a comprehensive assessment of patients after admission, and work together with patients and main caregivers to develop a hospice care service plan. The Standard has detailed regulations on symptom control, comfort care, humanistic care, discharge service, etc.

The deadline for public consultation of Beijing's "Standards for Hospice Care Services in Medical Institutions" is June 17 During this period, citizens and medical institutions can log on the official website of Beijing Municipal Market Supervision Administration for feedback.

Beijing: form three-level linkage

peaceful Care Service mode

The core idea of hospice care is to help people face "death" and let the deceased and their families "live and die in peace".

The reporter learned that by the end of 2023, nearly 100 medical institutions in Beijing had registered hospice care departments, opened more than 1100 hospice beds, and many community hospitals also began to transform and build hospice care centers, forming a three-level linkage hospice care service model.

Beijing Haidian Hospital is the first medical institution to carry out the pilot work of hospice care in China. At present, there are 50 beds, 6 doctors, nurses and social workers in the hospice care center here. According to the person in charge, hospice care services are provided to patients at the end of severe illness and pain, as well as their families.

"Hospice care" is still a strange word for many people, but it is closely related to everyone. It can be said that hospice care service is an important part of the elderly health service system.

Since 2016, relying on the advantages of rich medical resources, Beijing has transformed six medical institutions, including Beijing Gulou TCM Hospital and Puhuangyu Community Health Service Center, into tranquility care centers, creating a three-level coordinated tranquility care service model in the city.

Level 3 hospitals provide hospice care services for patients who need hospitalization, and undertake tasks such as hospice care technical support, professional training, etc. Secondary hospitals and hospice care centers mainly provide institutional hospice care services for patients with mild symptoms who need hospice care in hospital. Community health service centers and other institutions mainly provide community and home hospice services for patients with stable symptoms who do not need to be hospitalized.

Qin Yuan, Chief Physician of Beijing Haidian Hospital Hospice Center: There are hospitals at different levels, and then there are large hospitals leading small community hospitals to partition packages. Then you can train talents continuously, recharge all teams, and provide them with support and supervision, so that they can continue to move forward.