Jesús Martín Martín, PhD in Nursing and professor and researcher of the School of Nursing at the University of Navarra, is a member of the new board of directors of the Spanish Society of Palliative Care (SEPCAL). This organization brings together professionals involved in the care of the sick who cannot be cured and the accompaniment of their loved ones in Spain.

Jesús Martín is one of the two members of the nursing board, whose function is to represent the interests of the profession on the board board of the society, as well as to promote attention, training and research for an improvement in the quality of care provided to patients and families at the end of life. In total, 19 healthcare professionals make up the new board board of directors, elected on February 3 with Dr. Juan Pablo Leiva Santos - physician manager of the Palliative Care and Support Team at the Hospital de Manacor (Mallorca) - as president.

Among the functions of SEPCAL are the promotion of alliances between scientific societies for the promotion of activities at national and international level in care, training and research in Palliative Care. "We also work in the financial aid and advice to the Administration in order to promote, develop and implement in a scientific framework Palliative Care in Spain," he stresses.

50% of people in need of palliative care do not have access to it

One of the main objectives of the recently released board directive is to ensure that palliative care is a human right for everyone in Spain: "In our country more than 50% of people who need this care do not have access to it, as published in the latest Atlas of Palliative Care in Europe (2019), whose preparation was coordinated by the ATLANTES Program of Institute for Culture and Society (ICS) of the University of Navarra". "This places us at the tail end of Europe, which is why the reactivation of the National Strategy on Palliative Care is a priority," he adds.

Secondly, the professor and researcher of the School of Nursing at the University of Navarra stresses the urgency of SEPCAL to work with the different public institutions so that Palliative Care is recognized as a specialization programIn Spain Palliative Medicine is still not recognized as a specific specialization program, subspecialty or area of skill ; unlike other countries such as the United Kingdom, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and most of Western Europe".

Finally, as the third goal of the new board adds "tostrengthen the partnership between organizations and promote the multicenter research continuing with the awareness of society through the many significant life experiences that provide Palliative Care and the values that all professionals bring in the care and accompaniment of patients and their families".