James Murphy watched his wife Fiona suffer unbearable pain during the final days of her life.
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After learning she was riddled with cancer and told she only had weeks to live, it was Mrs Murphy’s wish to die at home.
The lounge room of the family’s Rutherford home was converted into a make shift hospice with a specialist bed installed and palliative care nurses visiting to administer pain relief between 8.30am and 5pm. That was where the care stopped.
A lack of government funding meant there were not enough nurses to provide a 24-hour service for Mrs Murphy or the 79 other palliative care patients across Maitland and Dungog who chose to die at home.
Mrs Murphy would wake agitated and cranky in the middle of the night. Her pain relief running out, she would crave a cigarette and want to walk outside for a smoke in the Winter cold.
I was pretty much the around the clock carer.
- James Murphy
Mr Murphy wanted to tell his story to raise awareness of just how much work our local palliative care nurses, doctors and volunteers do.
He wanted to tell how our local service is short staffed, stretched to the limit yet continue to do their best to help families like his outside their working hours for no pay.
He also wanted to get the message across to the state government that much more funding is needed so Maitland and Dungog Palliative Care can operate 24 hours a day.
“Every night between 3am and 4am I just couldn’t settle Fiona,” Mr Murphy said.
“I was told to ring the ambulance, they turned up one morning at 5.30am but said there was nothing they could do and they couldn’t give her anymore medication. They suggested going to accident and emergency but we could sit there for hours waiting. I decided to keep her home and try to work through it.
“I was pretty much the around the clock carer. I didn’t get much sleep. It was so frustrating and the nurses are also frustrated.
“We went through this for two weeks, some families go through this for months. I just can’t fault the nurses. They were magic. They did what they could to help me but they need help themselves. The state to step in and increase funding for this vital service.”
Hunter New England Health Lower Hunter sector manager Lynne Bickerstaff said the need for a 24-hour service is recognised. She said the Lower Hunter Community Health Service has two nursing vacancies within the palliative care team.
HNEH is also in the process of recruiting an additional palliative care staff specialist.
