Only 1 in 3 people who want to die at home do so

Just one out of every three people who would like to do at home actually do so, according to a new report.

People's preference to die in their own homes is not being facilitated by the health system, according to the report from the Irish Hospice Foundation, which finds large disparities in the numbers dying at home in different areas.

People in Co Donegal are almost twice as likely to die in their own home as those in Dublin, it points out.

The figures for all counties are much lower than that 74 per cent of people who told a previous survey they wanted to die at home.

The report calls for health policy to focus more on providing care in the home and community, and makes the case for the introduction key quality indicators on place of care and death as a way to monitor how well policy is being implemented.

Oncologist and independent Senator John Crown said there was a disconnect between the wishes expressed by people about their place of death and what actually happens to them.

“Many patients do not get the right to die at home vindicated as comprehensively as they should, largely because of resource issues.”

Hospital emergency departments were not places where someone known to be in a final illness should be subjected, he added.

“How many times does a person with a pre-determined. finite life expectancy have to go through the emergency room?”

Drawing on data from the Central Statistics Office, the report by Dr Kieran McKeown shows 34 per cent of people in Co Donegal die at home, followed by counties Kilkenny and Kerry on 33 per cent, Mayo at 32 per cent, and Leitrim and Wexford on 31 per cent.

In contrast, only 18 per cent of Dubliners die at home, followed by counties Sligo, Roscommon and Galway at 26 per cent, which is the national average.

Areas with no hospice delivering palliative care through home care teams have a higher proportion of deaths in the usual place of residence compared to areas with a hospice.