Isabel Galriça Neto , the director of the Unit of Palliative Care at Hospital da Luz Lisboa, participated in a discussion promoted by SIC Notícias, in the context of the project “Vamos falar de cancro” (Let’s talk about cancer), where she explained the importance of early access of these patients to palliative care and raised awareness to the “discrimination” that continues to occur in our health system, concerning access to this care. In the discussion, broadcasted in streaming on SIC Notícias social media channels, the specialist started by stating that “ the pandemic impaired significantly the access to diagnosis and treatment for those with no cure ”, explaining that: “Physicians and nurses dedicated to palliative care were diverted to other areas of assistance, in particular to respond to patients with COVID-19, thus leaving aside patients with no cure that need palliative care”. Isabel Galriça Neto hence said that “the pandemic had a very negative impact on palliative care, that situation creating extensive damage in the quality of living of people with cancer at the end of life”, among other patients that require this care. “Whether they cure or not, people need to be treated, meaning, they need a response from health care institutions. In Portugal, that response is scarce” and in times of pandemic “it was even more limited”, she added. The director of the Unit of Palliative Care from HLL defended, on the other hand, that “a modern health system has to respond to acute disease, but also to all those who have no cure”. And she gave the example of the service she runs: “ Palliative care supports patients quite early on, when they are still under treatment. Which means that we work in permanent articulation with our colleagues from oncology, radiotherapy, radiology, internal medicine, general and family medicine… And with this early work, who will benefit are the patients and their families, because it improves significantly their quality of life. And the whole system will also benefit, because we are treating those people better and more efficiently”. This is “the most efficient, less expensive and more largely humanized care”, reinforced Isabel Galriça Neto. The physician highlighted the message she always makes a point of conveying: “Palliative care is not intended to rush death and is not only meant for the last days of life”. And she gave, once again, the example of the unit she is responsible for at Hospital da Luz Lisboa: “We have an external consultation of palliative care, we receive in the unit around 600 patients every year and we discharge around 60% of our patients. This should be the reality of palliative care”. The discussion, entitled “Depois do cancro” (After cancer), is available on the webpage and social media channels of SIC Notícias, and also counted with the participation of an oncologic patient, Cláudia Fraga, who had ovarian cancer. " O Depois (do Cancro) "
