$14 million WA palliative care project
West Australians (WA) requiring palliative care services are set to benefit from a $14 million project which will help them access care in their local community and in their own homes.
WA Health Minister, Kim Hames, said the Palliative Services Project Fund would involve a range of innovative programs including:
- palliative care services for every rural region across the state;
- implementation of care pathways to ensure terminally ill patients receive timely care according to their needs, in the place of their choice;
- development of Palliative Care Area Health Teams in the Perth metropolitan area region to build links between health services and to boost patients’ access to care close to where they live; and
- a workforce development program to help ensure patients’ health care needs can be met.
A special focus of the fund would be on providing palliative care to patients in indigenous and remote communities. The Minister said there were significant benefits to taking this approach.
“Terminally ill patients and their families or carers will have the option of quality palliative care in their local communities. For rural patients it will reduce the need to travel to Perth for treatment”.
Dr Hames said the initiatives, which have been funded over four years, would operate across the state, building on the current network of existing palliative care services.
“Palliative care is an extremely important area as we prepare for an ageing population and the resulting demands on the health system,” the Minister said.
“These improvements will mean that patients and their families will have the opportunity to access palliative care in the place of their choice and improve quality of life by receiving care focused to meet their needs”.
The WA Cancer and Palliative Care Network will manage the project and work collaboratively with metropolitan and country health services to deliver palliative care services.
