Beijing hospices unable to meet demand: report

Over 30 hospices providing palliative care in Beijing are said to be struggling to meet demand, despite offering around 2,000 beds, reports The Beijing News.

Volunteers give a performance to mark the "Double Nine" festival for seniors at Beijing Songtang Care Hospital on October 27, 2017. [Photo: The Beijing News]

At least a dozen palliative care facilities in Beijing visited by The Beijing News are full, with reservation systems for end-of-life care said to be backlogged.

"Our hospice is usually for patients with terminal illness, most of them only live for three months. We provide care to improve the last period of their life," said Wang Delin at Shougang Hospital at Peking University.

The report by The Beijing News contends that many of the hospice facilities in Beijing are also suffering from financial constraints.

"For the past two years, the hospice has suffered from two million yuan deficit annually. Without any financial support from the government, all the expenses are covered by the hospice itself," said one person in charge of Beijing Longfu Hospital.

Hu Lei, chief nurse at Shougang Hospital's hospice facility, has appealed for national funding, as well as charity funds.

A policy issued by the State Council in 2013 calls on hospice care organizations to be supported by the government.