NZ’s end-of-life care third best worldwide

3News 7 October 2015
New Zealand’s end-of-life care is the third best in the world, according to a global study.

The research, compiled by the Economist Intelligence Unit, ranked New Zealand behind only Britain and Australia when comparing the overall quality and availability of palliative care found in hospitals and hospices in 80 countries.

New Zealand was also found to have the world’s highest community engagement around end of the life care – one of the five statistics considered.

“New Zealand has excellent facilities and a qualified workforce, and access to palliative care is free and universal,” the report’s authors noted.

But they said different standards for assessment of care across DHBs made it difficult to get a broad picture of some issues.

The EIU noted top ranked countries tended to be richer, and income levels were a “a strong indicator of the availability and quality of palliative care”.

When the survey was last conducted in 2010, New Zealand also came in third.
http://www.3news.co.nz/nznews/nzs-end-of-life-care-third-best-worldwide-2015100707#axzz3nk6Rj5vn