Page 5045 - Week 12 - Wednesday, 26 October 2011
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You matter because you are you. You matter to the last moment of your life and we will do all we can to help you to die peacefully but also live until you die.
The ACT Palliative Care Society are doing such a good job in providing community-based palliative care services that they are placing increased pressure on themselves. There is an increased knowledge and expectation of palliative care services being available, and as more people learn of the society’s good work the more people demand it. The Productivity Commission’s report into caring for older persons recognised the important role of volunteers in this arena. It states:
Informal carers and formal care workforce play important roles in providing care and support. Volunteers also contribute to the wellbeing of older people, with many providing highly valued social engagement and special support, and should be appropriately supported in these roles.
Many of us had the opportunity to engage very closely with the Palliative Care Society during the debate over Calvary hospital and Clare Holland House and certainly I would like to extend my thanks for the work they do, to their patron, Shirley Sutton; to the president, David Lawrence; to the vice-president, Robert Lloyd; the honorary secretary, Jennifer Hall; the treasurer, Bernie Ayers; to the council members, Valerie Brown, Richard Hall, John Hanks, Peter O’Keeffe, Andrew Skeels and Brad Smith; and to the co-opted members, Graham Moss, Andre Poidomani and Jo Spencer; to their public officer, Robert Lloyd, and to the very many hardworking volunteers who contribute so much to our society through the Palliative Care Society.
As the pressure grows on the public, private and community-based organisations to provide palliative care services, it is timely to examine the additional resources that may be needed to address the growing demand. Results of a 2011 Palliative Care Australia survey shows that most people would like to die at home but less than 20 per cent have recorded any sort of plan for their end of life care. Currently about 16 per cent of people die at home, 20 per cent die in hospices and 10 per cent die in a nursing home; the rest die in hospital.
The Productivity Commission recommends that older Australians should have access to palliative care irrespective of their care setting, which would result in a more efficient use of services, less cost and better outcomes. This independent review will go towards addressing that issue.
Although I support the motion that the Greens have brought here today, it is important to remember the history and why we are talking about this motion today, based on the letter that was written by Ms Bresnan back in February 2010. In the lead-up to that letter we had had the debate about Calvary hospital and Clare Holland House. I would like to re-litigate some of that debate because I think it is important in showing how late in many ways the Greens have come to this party.
When this debate first arose in April 2009, when it was leaked to the media that Calvary hospital was to be purchased by the government and Clare Holland was to be sold, essentially as a sweetener to that deal, I moved a motion in the Assembly, and the quotes from the Greens then were illuminating. The Greens supported the move
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