Page 2951 - Week 10 - Wednesday, 14 August 2013
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initiative will help to address the inequities in our community. In collaboration with the community, the advanced care planning program will develop education and awareness materials, and a mobile clinic will be trialled.
Palliative care is another area that will experience a growth in demand as our population ages, and we need to respond to this challenge now so that people can receive the care and dignity they deserve at the end of their life. As I said, my previous experience with my mother was that palliative care was not there when she needed it. Once again, I believe, and the ACT government believes, that the right thing to do by our community is to talk about this issue and to create the system to handle palliative care in the most compassionate and dignified way possible.
That is why the government will shortly be releasing the ACT palliative care services plan 2013-2017. This plan incorporates strategies for new and emerging models of care in the provision of palliative services and will aim to create a more integrated, cohesive network of services across acute, community and primary healthcare settings. The plan identifies six goals and associated strategies for ongoing development of palliative care services in the ACT. In particular, these goals relate to issues around education and awareness of palliative care, access to services and continuity of care.
The development of the plan included demand projections, workforce needs now and in the future, community education, support for non-government organisations and the identification of possible future models of care. It called on the experience of consumers, carers, clinicians, non-government organisations, advocacy groups, Calvary Health Care and Southern New South Wales Local Health District.
Most importantly, it put the needs of the individual, their family, their carers and their friends at the centre of the discussion and will continue its work with this focus. The ACT Palliative Care Services Plan Steering Committee will be overseeing the implementation of this plan and will monitor progress against each of the six goals.
I hope this important conversation maintains the momentum it has been given by receiving more media and community attention, as it has in recent days. It will never be easy but we must change our culture to make it normal and to support those people who are making these vital decisions.
The government’s action in this area is helping to raise awareness of the issues surrounding end-of-life decisions. The practical initiatives we are delivering will increase the resources and the range of advanced care planning opportunities and will improve palliative care planning and delivery in the ACT.
Together with healthcare professionals and members of the community, we are moving the ACT towards being a jurisdiction which talks about the issues that surround the end of a person’s life and also their plans for when this time comes to pass. A dignified death, as free as possible from pain, is a right we should all expect, and I encourage members to take part in the public conversation in their own communities.
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