Palliative care on the rise
A sustainable increase in the number of palliative care admissions in Australian hospitals was reported by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) last week. Palliative Care Australia (PCA) chief executive, Dr Yvonne Luxford, says the findings are a “fantastic indicator” that Australia’s hospital system is gaining an understanding of the need to refer people to palliative care.
A sustainable increase in the number of palliative care admissions in Australian hospitals was reported by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) last week.
While Palliative Care Australia (PCA) chief executive, Dr Yvonne Luxford, says the findings are a “fantastic indicator” that Australia’s hospital system is gaining an understanding of the need to refer people to palliative care, she maintains education and training is paramount.
“The report is a great start, but much more needs to be done, especially in the collection of data from community-based palliative care services,” Dr Luxford says.
“What we need to make sure, however, is people are receiving high quality care, and one way to do this is by ensuring education about palliative and end of life care is a standard provision for all health professionals,” she adds.
The report, Trends in palliative care in Australian hospitals, reveals the number of palliative care admissions rose by 56% over the 10-year period from 1999 to 2009.
Palliative care is care in which the clinical intent or treatment goal is primarily quality of life for a patient with an active, progressive disease with little or no prospect of a cure.
Patients aged 75 years of age and older accounted for nearly half of the 50,000 palliative care hospital admissions in 2008 to 2009.
The report also finds the average length of stay in hospital for palliative care admissions is 12.5 days per admission – which is nearly four times longer than the average 3.2 days spent in hospital for other admissions.
PCA hopes the increase will be recognised by healthcare planners as a firm indicator that extra resources in the area are needed.
Stating it was important to build a “comprehensive data set” for palliative care, Dr Luxford says it is something PCA has been advocating for a number of years.
“This report confirms more people are accessing palliative care than ever before, but there are still many people, their loved ones and caregivers, who could benefit from palliative care services.
“It is clear we need increased funding and resources specifically for palliative care,” she says.
