Priority palliative care investments the next step in reform agenda

Palliative Care Australia’s 2024 Federal Budget Submission, supported by Palliative Care WA, centres on practical proposals to improve quality of life for people in Western Australia during the last chapter of their life.

At the heart of the submission are proposals to increase access to functional day-to-day living supports for people wanting palliative care at home, including people with disabilities. This community-based approach allows people to live well and remain at home for as long as possible.

The three priorities in Palliative Care Australia’s 2024 Federal Budget Submission are:

• Palliative care at home for people under 65 who have functional support needs – $77.6m over three financial years to support 3,000 people.
• Maintaining funding for the Comprehensive Palliative Care in Aged Care Measure – $33m matched by states and territories over three financial years.
• Improve access to after-hours palliative care services by analysing gaps in service provision – $300,000.

“Every dollar invested in palliative care helps keep people out of the public hospital system and allows people with life-limiting illnesses, their loved ones, and carers to get the most out of life,” Palliative Care WA CEO Lenka Psar-McCabe said.

“People with life-limiting illnesses who receive palliative care at home have fewer hospital admissions, shorter stays in hospital, spend less time in emergency departments and intensive care units, and use ambulance services less frequently.”

People receiving care at home:

• visit an emergency department between two and 12 per cent less in their last year of life (when compared with people with life-limiting illness who don’t receive care at home)
• have reduced days in hospital during their last year of life of between 4.5 and 7.5 days
• are twice as likely to die at home, where 70 per cent of Australians say they wish to die.

“A second investment priority is the need for deeper and ongoing aged care reforms. Our sector believes it is critical that all residents in aged care receive a palliative care assessment on entry,” she said.

“It is critical that the national Comprehensive Palliative Care in Aged Care measure continues. This reform has achieved early success in terms of delivering quality of life and reducing pressure of local health services, but funding is due to run out in June this year.

“Third, we have made the case for a gap analysis of after-hours access to palliative care, which in some areas is letting vulnerable people down and increasing pressures on local emergency departments.

“It is reassuring that many of the issues raised in the submission have been discussed at National Cabinet, however, in the absence of firm solutions, people of all ages managing the last phase of their life will continue to miss out on vital services – and quality of life.”

The palliative care community across Australia has helped shape the measures presented in the PCA submission and strongly believe they deepen the ongoing reform agenda taking place in the health, aged care, disability, and cancer sectors.

“Until these solutions are actioned, those with life-limiting illness will continue to miss out and stay in hospital unnecessarily,” Ms Psar-McCabe said.

View a two-page summary of Palliative Care Australia’s 2024 Federal Budget Submission HERE