Perspectief 2020-48

46 Kateryna Biletska MA Perspectief knowledge and skills to provide better care for their beloved, as well as find support during the mourning period 19 . Community specialist palliative care services may provide valuable recommendations on how to take care of incurable patients both to general practitioners and to the relatives of these patients. It should be indicated that the consulting is provided 24 hours a day over the phone, and caregivers can get the necessary information whenever they need it. Unlike community specialist palliative care services, hospice at home provide their services only several hours a day. Specialists in palliative care or specially trained volunteers may at a certain time (in the night or during the day) substitute close relatives for the latter to have some rest after tiresome care 20 . It should be noted that public in- volvement in palliative care provision in Great Britain is enormous. In England itself, 70 thousand volunteers are involved. Over 200 multi-disciplinary teams have volunteers among them 21 . Voluntary assistants also play a significant role in inpatient hospice care. In the context of the latter, relatives may also find some emotional support while the in- curable disease of their beloved progresses and while dealing with the heavy loss 22 . Besides that, in grief, the relatives of incurable patients may also address the following organizations for help: Childhood Bereavement Network , Cruse Bereavement Care , Jewish Bereavement Counselling Service , Stillbirth and Neonatal Death Society (Support for par- ents after stillbirth or neonatal death), and others 23 . All these organizations have their hotlines, where relatives and specialists may get support or information they need at any time. It should also be indicated that the issue of helping family carers constitutes an ob- ligatory component of the modern palliative care syllabus 24 . That is, different medical educational institutions now train specialists who would be conscious of the difficulties faced by families of incurable patients. 3 The system of palliative care in the Netherlands -The next country selected for consideration is the Netherlands. The system of palliative care in the country is very interesting because the care of incurable patients is mainly pro- vided in the context of hospitals, not hospice. Although in popular opinion the Netherlands are usually associated with euthanasia, palliative care is provided here on a rather high level. In 1996, the Dutch Government clearly outlined its policy concerning the new med- ical field and made it binding for existing hospitals and nursing homes to secure adequate