On 7 July, at the invitation of British Ambassador to China Barbara Woodward, Xiao Ping, Party Secretary of Xiangya Hospital Central South University, She Lisha, Director of Party Committee Publicity Office, Li Yinglan, Director of Nursing Department, Li Xuejun, Deputy Director of General Office of Xiangya Hospital, Huang Weihong, Deputy Director of “Mobile Health” Ministry of Education-China Mobile Joint Laboratory, and Chen Zhe, Deputy Director of the Department of Medical Social Work, attended the Queen's Birthday Celebration activity.
During the activity, Princess Anne, the first-born daughter of Queen Elizabeth II, recognized Xiangya Hospital's achievements in children's charities. In the presence of Princess Anne, Barbara Woodward, British Ambassador to China, Chen Zhongbo, Deputy Secretary General of Hunan Provincial Government and Li Jianhua, President of Chinese Association for Life Care, Party Secretary Xiao Ping and Madam Lynda Gould, Founder of Butterfly Children's Hospices and Member of the Order of the British Empire, signed an agreement for cooperation on hospice care for children. Under the agreement, both sides will jointly promote palliative and hospice care for children in China through demonstration, cooperation, advocacy and training.
Noting that Xiangya Hospital's pediatric department was one of the early departments to provide social work services, Party Secretary Xiao Ping said that the palliative and hospice care for children is also an important part of clinical work. Xiangya Hospital's medical staff have worked hand in hand with medical social workers to achieve progress in this regard, though some aspects are yet to be improved. He hoped both sides, proceeding from the signing ceremony, would step up cooperation to promote the development of palliative and hospice care for children in hospitals of Hunan province and even across the country and to encourage greater participation in this endeavor.
Director Li Yinglan said that palliative and hospice care workers will provide patients with holistic nursing services through effective mental care and sophisticated clinical care to minimize their sufferings and make them feel peaceful, regretless and respected at the end of their life.
According to reports, palliative and hospice care for children is a noble cause in the interests of mankind, which is important to social advances. High-quality palliative and hospice care is the most effective way to support families living in despair. It is more than clinical care. It is a kind of holistic care which should not only accommodate the needs of child patients and their families but also provide financial and spiritual support to alleviate their sufferings.
Source: Xiangya Hospital
