Page 5040 - Week 12 - Wednesday, 26 October 2011
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Demand will increase in coming years and we need to ensure that we are prepared for that increase. We also need to ensure that services are designed to meet the various needs of people who are dying and their carers to ensure their final time together is as peaceful and as pain free as possible.
I note that the Chief Minister has circulated an amendment, which I am happy to support. I just foreshadow that I understand there is an issue with procurement processes in getting someone from interstate. I do understand that. The key thing is that we would just like to see an independent review, which that amendment retains.
MS GALLAGHER (Molonglo—Chief Minister, Minister for Health and Minister for Industrial Relations) (3.45): I acknowledge Ms Bresnan’s longstanding interest in matters to do with palliative care in the territory’s healthcare system. The government is happy to support this motion, subject to the successful passage of the amendment that I have circulated, because it reinforces the work that is already underway but it also articulates well the scope and purpose of that work. As health minister, I am particularly happy to speak to the motion and to have the opportunity to assure Ms Bresnan that the very work she seeks to be carried out is in train.
The nominal end date of the palliative care strategy is the end of 2011, so it was always going to be the logical point at which to review the achievements and limitations on the system, examine future needs and directions and also look at matters of choice for the ACT community. Indeed, I have had several briefings on the palliative care strategy in recent times. As late as Monday, we were discussing this in terms of the scope of the palliative care strategy and some of the issues that I wanted to see explored during the consultation phase.
Without question, palliative care is an area that is growing—I cannot think of another area in the healthcare system that is not—as our population ages. It is crucial that we review our strategic direction in light of our demand projection. That is why the government has already begun working on the new strategy.
An independent consultant is being engaged. That consultant will work with stakeholders, along with the Health Directorate and Calvary Health Care, to assist us with developing a strategy for the coming years. The strategy will set out the core principles that should underlie palliative care service provision and will inform policy making and decision making. Among the factors to be examined by the independent consultant will be the projections of demand; the adequacy of the current level of support for existing palliative care services; workforce needs, now and also in coming years; support for non-government organisations, including looking at models of care in other jurisdictions; and possible new models of care which may be appropriate for the ACT.
The review will start before the end of the year, with an expected completion date in the middle of 2012. The independent consultant’s work and the consultations will also be used to feed into plans for the new north side subacute hospital and proposals that a new facility incorporate additional in-patient palliative care services on that side of town.
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