A palliative care service for children will become available in health centers and family doctors’ centers, in district hospitals and in specialized medical institutions. The children with incurable diseases will benefit from palliative care immediately after they are diagnosed, either at home, in hospitals or in specialized medical institutions. The measures are stipulated in the National Clinical Protocol “Palliative Care for Children” that was worked out by the Ministry of Health, IPN reports.
Palliative care will be provided throughout the duration of the illness, while the care plan will be agreed by doctors and families and will be reviewed depending on the development of the disease.
Palliative care will be provided by multidisciplinary teams consisting of family doctors, pediatrics, oncologists, medical assistants, kinetotherapists, social workers, psychologists, priests, relatives and family friends. There will be set up mobile teams of doctors that will take sick children to the hospital or home after discharge.
According to the Ministry of Health, the development of the palliative care service will improve the quality of life of seriously ill children.
