Jo Woolf, Chief Executive of South Buckinghamshire Community Hospice, has just returned from a tour of Chinese medical facilities and universities to share best British practice on palliative care. The tour was to investigate training opportunities between Britain and China and as a result, China hopes to send staff to South Buckinghamshire Community Hospice next year.
Palliative care in China is close to non-existent and facilities generally suffer from superstitions, which form a large part of the Chinese belief system. Jo Woolf has led the development of a state of the art hospice facility in South Bucks which will open in May next year. The new pioneering facility offers lymphoedema care, unlimited psychotherapy for both patients and families, and an area specifically designed for 17-28 year olds - an under resourced group.
Both Britain and China face similar challenges of ageing populations. Both nations currently have more people aged over 65 than under 25. Jo Woolf believes that day hospices are the future for Britain for two reasons; people normally want to be and die at home, and bedded hospices are cost prohibitive for our growing population.
Jo visited hospitals in Jiangxi (population, 40 million) and Hunan (65 million) and spoke to senior medical directors in both Provinces.
Jo Woolf said, “We are fortunate to live in a society that recognises the importance of end of life care and pioneers the choices available. I was overwhelmed by the professionalism and enthusiasm of the Chinese medical profession and their appetite to learn. There are definitely lessons for Britain to learn from China”
“We have borrowed many ideas and practices from the East, acupuncture, meditation, Reiki and these practices help to improve the quality of our patients physical and spiritual lives. I hope we can contribute towards China's efforts to improve end of life care. ”
Jo was particularly touched by a butterfly dance the Chinese medical team prepared and performed.
The images below are of a picture commissioned by South Buckinghamshire Community Hospice as a gift to Jo's hosts in China and Jo with her hosts. The picture gifted incorporates the hospice's butterfly logo.
