Palliative care must be core businesss

THE PATH TO IMPROVING ACCESS IN AGED CARE

Australians are overwhelmingly in support of appropriate access to palliative care for people living in residential aged care. This sentiment was one of the key findings from the latest National Palliative Care Community Survey released in May 2022, which explores Australia’s attitudes around palliative care, end-of-life, death and dying.

The survey found that 96 per cent of Australians believe it is important that aged care services provide palliative care to their residents, with the understanding that palliative care improves the quality of life for people nearing the end of life, and their families.

The findings make it clear that Australians see it as a priority that their older loved ones receive the respect, dignity and care they deserve at the end of their lives.

Unfortunately, as the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety found, too few people receive evidence-based endof-life and palliative care and instead experience unnecessary pain, untreated symptoms or indignity in their final days, weeks and months.

Palliative Care Australia (PCA) has, together with the palliative care and aged care sector more broadly, advocated strongly for many years that palliative care must be considered core business in aged care.

While many aged care providers are delivering excellent palliative care services across the country, the sector has been underfunded and overstretched for many years.

With over one-third of all deaths in Australia occurring in residential aged care facilities and the demand for palliative care rising rapidly, governments must begin investing adequately in palliative care and planning for our future ageing population. If not, more and more people in our communities will suffer in their final days, from a lack of appropriate care. So, how can aged care providers and their staff be meaningfully supported by appropriate systems, funding, and training to provide quality palliative care to all their residents who need it?

Currently, KPMG estimates that the palliative care sector has a $427.5 million funding shortfall per annum. In response, PCA has produced the Palliative Care Australia Roadmap 2022-2027 to guide decision-makers on the investments and initiatives needed to deliver high quality palliative care for all Australians who need it.

Informed by the Roadmap are two projects that would directly improve palliative care access in aged care, by growing the number of aged care nurses trained in palliative care and increasing access to specialist palliative care services for residents living in aged care homes.

Investing in these projects would be a significant first step for the Government to boost access in aged care, which would benefit older Australians across the country.

This investment can be supported by further reforms, such as introducing a new human rights-based Aged Care Act, incorporating palliative care into the Aged Care Quality Standards, compulsory palliative care and dementia care training for aged care staff, and improved aged care data governance.

Additionally, aged care providers must also receive adequate funding under the Australian National Aged Care Classification (AN-ACC) to support the delivery of high quality palliative care services.

With Australia facing a looming palliative care crisis, the good news is that we have the solutions ready to ensure all Australians who need palliative care will receive it, starting with the frontline in aged care.

PCA is looking forward to working closely with the aged care sector and the Government to deliver on these solutions in the near future.