Planning for the future s. 3-4
The ACT Palliative Care Services Plan 2013-2017 (the Plan) has identified six key goals with 16 associated strategies for achieving these goals, for possible implementation. These six goals are in close alignment with the four goal areas identified in the National Palliative Care Strategy (2010).
- The Plan recognises the need to improve access to palliative care services, including services to special needs groups, such as children, people with disabilities, people with a cognitive impairment, people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds and people who identify as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander.
- Increasing awareness of end of life issues, both in the general community and amongst health professionals will facilitate more timely conversations about treatment options, the dying process, avoiding futile or unwanted treatments, advance care planning and awareness and control of symptoms.
- Improved awareness of end of life care issues, and improved resourcing of palliative care services, will enable the earlier engagement of appropriate palliative care services for patients with life-limiting illnesses. Research has demonstrated that this enables improved symptom management, knowledge of care and treatment options and overall improved health outcomes for patients as a result of the more holistic care that palliative care services are able to provide.
- Smoother, more seamless transitions for patients between multiple care settings in which palliative care services may be provided including hospital inpatient care, palliative care services, GP practices, community based services, RACF and patients’ homes is likely to improve patient’s experience.
- Improved access to services and coordination with other clinical services can occur with the introduction of new models of service delivery including collaborative models of care between palliative care services and other services such as services for people with chronic conditions and those in RACFs, and the development of specialist palliative care outpatient clinics and Day Hospices.
- The Plan aims to enhance the resourcing of palliative services in the ACT in order to provide for the projected increase in population demand. The most important component is an enhancement of workforce, most notably in community-based settings. In terms of inpatient beds, an increase in the current capacity of designated palliative care beds from 19 beds to 25 beds in 2016/17 and 28-30 beds in 2021/22 is outlined in more detail on page 12.
- Establishing a local body of evidence with systematic data about patients’ experiences and outcomes at the end of life will serve to underpin service improvement activities. The ACT will develop an integrated mechanism to incorporate patient activity and outcomes, care standards and consumer feedback that will inform service and workforce development and quality improvement.
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