Albania - Korca Palliative care team
Palliative Care Team in Korca, Albania, registered in the court as "Family Healthcare" Association.
Korca is the city where we offer palliative care service. It's located in the southeast Albania 840 meters above the sea level. Its terrain is relatively mountainous, with warm summers and cold winters with a lot of snow.
In collaboration with two other palliative care centers located in Tirana and Durres, we participate in training of three other new palliative care teams found in Shkoder, Lezhe and Elbasan.
Actually, the staff consists of two doctors, one of which is a Palliative Care Doctor, five nurses, one of which is the Homecare Manager, a secretary, a driver and a building assistant.
Services provided by our clinic are:
- Homecare
- Palliative and curative chemotherapy administration
- Wound dressing
- Respite care
- Day centre (the only centre which offers this service in Albania)
- Training seminars on cancer and palliative care for the health professionals and students of Nursing School.
The activity is offered in a contemporary building on the hill above Sanatorium and near Regional Hospital. Palliative Care started in 1993 when some Catholic Missionaries from England known as Mary Potter Sisters came in Albania. They established the First Palliative Care Centre in the southeast of Albania, Korce called Mary Potter Clinic.
Apart from the difficulties, our clinic provides specialized palliative care by a high motivated staff trained in Albania and abroad. Korca Palliative Care Team cares for about 120 cancer patients per year.
The staff members are trained in Malta, Poland and London. Two nurses of our team will participate in a weekly training held in Salzburg, Austria, 30 March - 5 April 2008. Our centre has participated in many local, national and international conferences and congresses on Oncology and Palliative Care. We are a member of Albanian Palliative Care Association, EONS (European Oncology Nursing Society) and BUON (Balkan Union of Oncology).
We closely cooperate with two other palliative care centers, *) Sue Ryder Tirana, and Sue Ryder Durres, share our experiences, translate and publish books on palliative care, being altogether initiators in developing and growing of palliative care in Albania. *) Sue Ryder website
Two members of our team teach palliative care subject to students in the third year of Nursing School. Our work with patients, their families and students has raised their awareness on palliative care knowledge and its importance for cancer patients in terminal phases.
The First Albanian National Conference on Palliative Care is held in July 2002 and we are trying to get funds to organize the Second National Conference.
"Mary Potter" Clinic activity is financially supported by:
- Little Company of Mary (a small congregation of Catholic Sisters whose mission was caring for the sick) located in England
- Dorcas Aid International
- Municipal Council of Korca
- Different businessmen of city, fundraising boxes placed in our clinic and in one of the supermarkets of city
- Fundraising activities organized by our staff
We are trying to get the Albanian government to cover part of this service.
Actually, we don't have any website address.
Contact information:
Irena Laska
General Manager
E-Mail: irenalaska@yahoo.com
EAPC Task Force on the development of Palliative Care in Europe:
EAPC - document 2006 about Palliative Care Services in Albania
(Information correct as at: 7th August 2006)
The International Observatory of End of Life Care: Albania
The Mary Potter Sisters (Little Company of Mary) is a religious congregation of Catholic women, founded in England in 1870; it is responsible for a number of hospice and palliative care services around the world. The sisters came to Korce, Albania, in August 1993 at the request of Ivan Diaes, Apostolic Nuncio for the country, and developed a number of projects for humanitarian aid, including the care of terminally ill people. They also created a modern health care centre, which was opened in October 1996, but destroyed during a period of civil unrest in March 1997. After a break of eight months away from the country, the sisters returned to Korce at the end of 1998 and, following an evaluation of their overall strategy, decided to concentrate their work in palliative care. They opened a palliative care centre in Korce in January 2001.
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