What is the Forum on End of Life in Ireland?
The Forum is a unique engagement with the public on end-of-life issues. It has engaged all sectors of society to find out what people in Ireland believe about death, dying and bereavement. The social, administrative, legal, economic, health and religious spectrums have all been involved.
The verbal and written submissions to the Forum have been compiled. A Report and a Draft Action Plan have been prepared. There was a Public Consultation period which started on the 17th May 2010 and closed on the 2nd July 2010 which allowed the general public to participate in selecting those items from the Draft Action Plan which they considered to be a high priority. The results of that survey will be placed on the website in the near future for viewing.
The newly formed National Council of the Forum on End of Life is taking on the issues raised at the Forum, in the Draft Action Plan, and during the consultation.
The Forum was launched formally by President Mary McAleese on March 11, 2009.
Speech by President Mary McAleese Presidential speech 11.03.09.pdf (0.03 MB, Adobe PDF)
How did the idea for a Forum emerge?
The Irish Hospice Foundation and the National Council on Ageing and Older People published a joint statement proposing new initiatives to promote reform of end-of-life care in Ireland. This followed a study and seminar which considered the quality of care and the quality of life for older people in different care settings.
The Irish Hospice Foundation then inaugurated the Forum at the beginning of 2009. The aim was to identify what matters most to the public on end of life from a wide range of perspectives: social, health, economic, legislative, administrative, educational, cultural and religious.
What does the Forum intend to achieve?
The Forum aims to ensure that a systematic quality approach exists within all public services to facilitate a goo0d death when it is expected, or can be predicted, and that supportive system are in place when death occurs unexpectedly and traumatically.
Who has engaged with the Forum?
The Forum received written submissions and heard presentations and comments at public meetings from older people, critical illness groups, children’s organisations, hospitals, doctors, nurses, emergency services, disablement groups, religions, chaplains, architects, statutory bodies, carers, nursing home interests, human rights and legal personnel, marginalised groups, gay and lesbians, a colour consultant, educationalists and bereavement groups, among others.
How does the Forum go about its work?
The Forum initially invited written submissions from organisations and members of the public. There were 167 of these. It also ran 23 workshops at which 108 presentations were given, mainly by organisations. Nine public meetings were also held around the country.
These were in Dublin (2), Galway, Limerick, Cork, Dundalk, Sligo, Waterford and Tullamore.
The meetings and workshops were chaired, and had panels, involving prominent people from all sectors of society.
Recording and Consulting
All the proceedings were compiled and written up by Bob Carroll, the former Director of the National Council on Ageing and Older People. His Report of the Forum on End-of-Life, and the Draft Action Plan emerging from the Report are now available on this website www.endoflife.ie. You can also get the two documents by contacting Linda Collins at forum@hospice-foundation.ie or by writing to her at Irish Hospice Foundation, Morrison Chambers, 32 Nassau Street, Dublin 2.
The consultation period which began on Monday, May 17, 2010 and ended of Friday, July 2, 2010 allowed organisations and the public to comment on the Report and Draft Action Plan.
The issues in the Report and in the Draft Action Plan will now be taken on by the new National Council of the Forum on End-of-Life in Ireland. Its aim is to advance what has been raised in the two documents.
What is in the Report and Draft Action Plan?
The Report is a bulky document. There is a striking diversity of identity and perspectives of those who contributed to the proceedings of the Forum in any way. People who engaged with the Forum had serious illnesses or suffered bereavement; had personal experience of someone close dying; worked in medical or other professions; many were concerned about those and end of life because of their conviction that dying is a sacred time.
The Draft Action Plan highlights that:
• End of life is everybody’s business
• End of life is a public health matter
• Advocacy base reform should be broadened
• Public awareness of issues has to be developed
• An end of Life Strategy is needed
• Information deficit on end of life matters needs to be tackled
• There is a need for regulation and standards setting
• National policies on palliative care need to be implemented
• Possibility of developing a distinctly Irish dimension to end of life needs top be explored
• Promotion of transparency in decision-making at end of life is needed
• There needs to be discussion on Advanced Care Directives
• An enhancement of life education and training is required
• Financial concerns at end of life need addressing
• Organisation of end of life and bereavement care is recommended
How can I make a comment?
The Forum on End of Life in Ireland welcomes all comments. You can send your comments or suggestions to Linda Collins, Forum on End of Life, Morrison Chambers, 32 Nassau Street, Dublin 2 or email to forum@hospice-foundation.ie.
Will my comments matter?
Your views, just like the views of everyone who contributed in any way to the Forum process, are of immense importance if the National Council of the Forum on End- of-Life in Ireland is to proceed effectively.
What is the National Council?
The National Council of the Forum of End-of-Life in Ireland is chaired by the former Supreme Court Judge, Mrs Justice Catherine McGuinness. She is President of the Law Reform Commission. The National Council will also include people prominent in many sectors of Irish life.
The National Council, which met for the first time on Wednesday, May 26, 2010 will determine priorities on the issues on end of life which it looks to address. There will be an annual public meeting of the Forum (date to be announced). At this people can give their views on what has been achieved and what more needs to be done.