Page 5044 - Week 12 - Wednesday, 26 October 2011
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community sector. The number of Australians aged 85 and over is projected to increase from 0.4 million in 2010 to 1.8 million by 2050. They will then make up over five per cent of the Australian population. By 2020 it is expected that over 3.5 million older Australians will access aged care services each year, with approximately 80 per cent of services being delivered in the community.
There are significant links between end of life care and aged care facilities. The ageing population will place ever increasing demands on residential and community aged care services. Access to, and the quality of, palliative care is diverse and inconsistent in residential aged care. Some aged care facilities enjoy ready access to primary care physicians well skilled in palliative care and to specialist palliative care physicians. Some facilities, particularly high care facilities, have health systems in place to limit hospitalisations by providing care in place. In the ACT we all know that aged care facilities and funding are largely determined by the federal government and it is more complex for us to engage in the provision of such services. However, that is support that can be provided. The ACT government has a significant role to play in supporting subsidiary and support services such as funding for community-based palliative care services.
The increase in chronic illness and therefore the unfortunate increase in deaths from chronic illnesses are placing increasing demand on palliative care services. The complex nature of many deaths from chronic illness is also raising greater pressure on those services. Also, with further advances in the management of some diseases, more people will require complex care for dementia, diabetes and other morbidities associated with longevity, as well as palliative and end of life care.
To address this ageing population we need a needs-based approach to end of life care services. We need a well-articulated plan for providing equitable access to palliative care while promoting effective and ethical use of resources.
The Canberra Liberals will be supporting this motion today which calls for an independent review of palliative care services in the ACT. We believe it is important for this review to be independent and, given the small ACT community and often emotional ramifications of decision making in this area, it is important that the review address these issues rationally and holistically.
The government have indicated that they are on track to implement a new palliative care strategy once the current 2007-11 strategy ends and this independent review has the capacity to inform the strategy and provide another avenue for stakeholders to engage in the consultation process.
In the ACT we are fortunate to have community organisations and their committed volunteers providing sensitive and timely care to people in their last days. For a volunteer this cannot not be an easy time; they are entering a person’s home and their family situation at possibly the most traumatic and stressful point. We should be commending organisations such as the ACT Palliative Care Society for undertaking work that is difficult but so very necessary. The Palliative Care Society state that they undertake this work because, and I quote from their website:
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