The following palliative care services are known to exist in Czech Republic:
Existing Services (2002)
Adult
Inpatient - Freestanding
6
- Hospital Unit
0
- Hospital mobile team
1
Nursing Home
0
Home Care
2
Day Care
0
Total
9
Paediatric
Inpatient
0
Home Care
1
Day Care
0
Unspecified
0
Total
1
Grand Total
10
Current Projects
No palliative care projects, not yet operational services, are known to exist in Czech Republic.
Known hospice/ palliative care projects (2002)
Adult
Inpatient - Hospital
0
- Hospice
0
Home Care
0
Unspecified
0
Total
0
Paediatric
Hospital
0
Hospice
0
Home Care
0
Unspecified
0
Total
0
Grand Total
0
The Czech Republic has 6 inpatient hospices, with a total capacity of 182 beds; 2 more hospices are under construction. All of these work within the framework of long term care facilities, that is as nursing homes. In addition there is one hospital mobile team in the Masaryk University Hospital, Brno, and at least two home care services that provide a comprehensive palliative care approach. All hospices try to co-operate with local home care services. Some general home care services (reimbursed by state health insurance) are able to provide palliative care interventions, including terminal care. 'Klicek' is an NGO which provides palliative care for children, in which two play therapists have established a free-standing building in Prague to provide respite care.
Education
Postgraduate education in short courses for family physicians and district and family nurses has been available since 1992 in the Czech Republic, and some advanced courses have been organised with assistance from outside the country; the Ministry of Health in the Czech Republic has supported these courses. Lectures on palliative medicine have been included in the curriculum of the 1st Medical Faculty of Charles University, since 1994; but there is no systematic approach to palliative medicine in the undergraduate medical teaching. Since 1995 annual palliative medicine conferences have been held in Brno.
Publications
Professor Jiri Vorlicek has written a Textbook of Palliative Medicine (450 pages) that covers all aspects of palliative medicine in oncology. Since 1995 many articles on palliative care have appeared in medical journals.
Speciality Recognition
In December 2001, the scientific advisory board of the Ministry of Health recommended to the Minister that chronic pain management and palliative medicine should be recognised as a medical subspecialty. No decision has yet been taken.
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