22 September 2010
The health care group’s Director Medical Services, Dr Lachlan Henderson, said euthanasia was not the answer.
“It is unnecessary given modern pain control and palliative care techniques, such as those we offer at our highly regarded Murdoch Community Hospice and our other excellent palliative care services in our hospitals in Western Australia and Victoria,” he said.
“Instead of debating the Voluntary Euthanasia Bill, the WA Parliament should be supporting increased funding for palliative care services so they are available to more people.”
Dr Henderson said that if passed, the Voluntary Euthanasia Bill would place an added and unwanted onus on doctors and radically change the current “healing” relationship between doctor
and patient.
“As a Catholic health care group, we oppose euthanasia because it is contrary to our Catholic mission and values. However, irrespective of this, the legislation is also simply bad medicine. It will undermine patient trust in their doctors - as in the Netherlands and Belgium where voluntary euthanasia is legal - and it has been shown to have damaging effects on doctors who provide it.”
Dr Henderson said legalising euthanasia would permanently and radically change the ethos of health care provision in Western Australia and would do nothing to protect a vulnerable group in society.
St John of God Health Care aspires to a holistic approach to health care, which respects the dignity and worth of each person as well as affirming life and regarding dying as a normal process. This underpins its delivery of palliative care, a service in which it continues to advance and excel in.
The group’s services have attracted commendations from the Australian Council on Healthcare Standards for ensuring the care of the dying is managed with dignity and comfort. The group has also implemented End of Life Care Pathways, which reflect leading practice in care of the dying, in collaboration with other palliative care agencies.
“Voluntary euthanasia or physician assisted suicide are not part of palliative care practice, which among other things provides relief from pain, integrates psychological and spiritual aspects of patient care, and offers support systems to patients and their families,” Dr Henderson said.
“In addition to the palliative care services we provide, we have recently developed a number of documents – Advance Health Care Directives in WA - ensuring a patient’s personal treatment decisions are recorded and respected. They set out the rights of adults to make and have respected certain decisions regarding their future medical treatment, all within a legal framework.”
St John of God Health Care is Australia’s largest Catholic not for profit private healthcare group. It operates four hospitals in WA, seven hospitals in Victoria and two hospitals in New South Wales, as well as pathology services in WA and Victoria, and Social Outreach and Advocacy services reaching out to people experiencing disadvantage in Australia, New Zealand and Asia-Pacific.