Conference on palliative care: Minister Schumann speaks!

Conference on palliative care: Minister Schumann speaks!

Erlaaerplatz 4, 1230 Wien, Österreich - On April 16, 2025, an important press conference on the hospice and palliative care will take place in Austria. The event location is the Caritas Hospiz in Erlaaerplatz 4, where from 10:00 a.m. Minister Korinna Schumann , city council Peter Hacker and Caritas Director Klaus Schwertner come together. The aim of the press conference is to inform about the current developments and challenges in palliative care.

In the context of the press conference, the role of Mobile Palliative Teams of Caritas is of great importance. These teams offer holistic palliative accompaniment for people with advanced, life -shortening diseases and their relatives. The care takes place in the familiar environment of the patient, mostly at home, and includes cooperation with general practitioners, nursing staff and social aid organizations.

The offer of the palliative teams

The team of mobile palliative services consists of doctors, qualified health and nursing staff, social workers, physiotherapists and psychotherapists. The offers include the palliative alleviation of physical ailments, advice on ethical and medical decisions as well as support in social and financial issues. A 24-hour standby service ensures comprehensive care for patients.

The importance of palliative care is also highlighted by the umbrella organization Austria , which has published a data report on specialized hospice and palliative care in Austria. The report shows that a total of 357 specialized facilities for adults were available in all federal states in 2020.

The situation during pandemic

The Covid 19 pandemic had a serious effect on the hospice and palliative care. For example, volunteer hospice teams looked after 27% fewer patients than in the previous year, which is due to the restrictions on contact. This situation illustrates the challenges with which palliative care was confronted. Despite these difficulties, the number of patients cared for increased by around 6% by mobile palliative teams, while the palliative consiliaries were increased.

A positive development towards the expansion of the palliative care is shown by opening a new inpatient hospice in Vienna and a daily hospice in Salzburg in 2020. Thanks to everyone who is committed to the care of people in the last phase of life. The exchange and cooperation between different actors are crucial for high-quality hospice and palliative care.

For more information, the town hall correspondence city of Vienna is available at Telephone: 01 4000-81081 and by email to dr@ma53.gv.at . Further details on the press conference are available on the website of the city of Vienna