Skip to content
The Catholic Leader
  • Home
  • News
    • QLD
    • Australia
    • Regional
    • Education
    • World
    • Vatican
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Life
    • Family
    • Relationships
    • Faith
  • Culture
  • People
  • Subscribe
  • Jobs
  • Contribute
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • QLD
    • Australia
    • Regional
    • Education
    • World
    • Vatican
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Life
    • Family
    • Relationships
    • Faith
  • Culture
  • People
  • Subscribe
  • Jobs
  • Contribute
No Result
View All Result
The Catholic Leader
No Result
View All Result
Home News

Call for better palliative care availability, many terminally ill patients die before receiving access

byMark Bowling
2 May 2019 - Updated on 1 April 2021
Reading Time: 3 mins read
AA

Better care needed: “Many patients die before their package is approved. It has been six years since the most recent inquiry into palliative care in Queensland. Little has changed.”

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Better care needed: “Many patients die before their package is approved. It has been six years since the most recent inquiry into palliative care in Queensland. Little has changed.”

A GROUP of specialist Queensland doctors claim many terminally ill patients are dying before they receive access to palliative care.

The claim was made in a submission to the Queensland Government inquiry into the adequacy of aged care, end-of-life and palliative care, and whether there was support for state laws to allow voluntary assisted suicide.

“Patients … at any time of the day or night regardless of geographic location need to be able to access this care with the least amount of additional burden, especially the burden of navigating our complex health system,” the Queensland Specialist Palliative Care Services Directors’ Group said.

“There are regional, rural and remote communities with no direct access to specialist palliative care.”

In their submission, 18 specialist physicians, chaired by Dr Greg Parker, urged the state government to provide palliative care services across Queensland, operating in all hospitals and health service districts, and with clinical on-call backup.

In addition, they claimed patients and their families were struggling to negotiate the complexities in arranging care through the National Disability Insurance Scheme, My Aged Care and Queensland Community Care, resulting in “unacceptable delays in provision of care, or in some instances no care at all”.

“Many patients die before their package is approved,” the doctors’ group said. 

“It has been six years since the most recent inquiry into palliative care in Queensland. Little has changed.”

Overall, the doctors described palliative care services available to Queenslanders as “dictated by obsolete and disparate funding models”, lacking in engagement with government and expert policy-makers.

This is in addition to a “lack of a state-wide approach” and an “inadequate current specialist workforce”.

Related Stories

Do you seriously think God can’t use you?

Everyone has a right to life, not a right to death, pope says

Catholic voices of dissent amidst push for euthanasia laws in Queensland

The doctors’ submission detailed a “postcode lottery” that determined what home equipment dying people could access, depending on which hospital and health service they fell under.

The doctors also said patients typically could not arrange urgent palliative care visits outside business hours, forcing them into hospital emergency departments.

“Palliative care has not been given the recognition as an area of service in which it is essential to provide 24/7 care,” the doctors said.

The doctors also raised questions about the transparency and handling of the end-of-life-care debate in Queensland, claiming key reports had not been publicly released.

“There have been several palliative care reviews and scoping studies (funded by the State Government) over the last 10 years seeking to understand palliative care service provision in Queensland and to look at planning for the future,” the doctors said. 

“These are potentially important pieces of work, yet they have not been made publicly available. 

“Such information is important for us all to understand past, current and future palliative care needs, and we think they should all be made publicly available.”

The inquiry is due to report back to the Government by the end of November.

ShareTweet
Previous Post

United in prayer for Sri Lankan communities in the wake of the devastating terrorist attacks

Next Post

Biloela community makes fresh moves to keep Tamil family in town after Sri Lanka terror attack

Mark Bowling

Mark is the joint winner of the Australian Variety Club 2000 Heart Award for his radio news reporting in East Timor, and has also won a Walkley award, Australia’s most-respected journalism award. Mark is the author of ‘Running Amok’ that chronicles his time as a foreign correspondent juggling news deadlines and the demands of being a husband and father. Mark is married with four children.

Related Posts

Evergreen: Harriette Thompson was an American classical pianist who later held the record for the oldest woman to run a marathon, at age 92, and also the oldest woman to complete a half-marathon, at 94.
Faith

Do you seriously think God can’t use you?

2 April 2022
Life: Pope Francis embraces a woman during his general audience in the Paul VI hall. Photo: CNS
Vatican

Everyone has a right to life, not a right to death, pope says

10 February 2022
Catholic voices of dissent amidst push for euthanasia laws in Queensland
News

Catholic voices of dissent amidst push for euthanasia laws in Queensland

1 September 2021
Next Post
Biloela protest

Biloela community makes fresh moves to keep Tamil family in town after Sri Lanka terror attack

Changes for The Catholic Leader delivery to regional dioceses

Bishops call upon political leaders to help the vulnerable, including the unborn and the elderly

Popular News

  • Pregnant woman

    Queensland election: The pro-life political parties committed to abortion law reforms

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Nationwide rosary event happening for Australia’s patroness this Saturday

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Answering God’s invitation to us all

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Br Alan Moss remembered for a life of faith and learning

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Angel’s Kitchen serves hot meals to the hungry in Southport

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
Search our job finder
No Result
View All Result

Latest News

Gwen has given 15,000 hours of cuddles to sick and premature babies
QLD

Gwen has given 15,000 hours of cuddles to sick and premature babies

by Joe Higgins
20 May 2022
0

BRISBANE grandmother Gwendoline Grant has clocked up 15,000 hours cuddling and caring for sick and premature babies...

Helping stroke survivors earns Ozcare volunteer national recognition

Helping stroke survivors earns Ozcare volunteer national recognition

20 May 2022
Br Alan Moss remembered for a life of faith and learning

Br Alan Moss remembered for a life of faith and learning

19 May 2022
Catholic relationship advisers offer five tips to look after your mental health

Nationwide rosary event happening for Australia’s patroness this Saturday

19 May 2022
Francis offers advice on politics: Seek unity, don’t get lost in conflict

Francis offers advice on politics: Seek unity, don’t get lost in conflict

19 May 2022

Never miss a story. Sign up to the Weekly Round-Up
eNewsletter now to receive headlines directly in your email.

Sign up to eNews
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Jobs
  • Subscribe

The Catholic Leader is an Australian award-winning Catholic newspaper that has been published by the Archdiocese of Brisbane since 1929. Our journalism seeks to provide a full, accurate and balanced Catholic perspective of local, national and international news while upholding the dignity of the human person.

Copyright © All Rights Reserved The Catholic Leader
Accessibility Information | Privacy Policy | Archdiocese of Brisbane

The Catholic Leader acknowledges Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as the First Peoples of this country and especially acknowledge the traditional owners on whose lands we live and work throughout the Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • QLD
    • Australia
    • Regional
    • Education
    • World
    • Vatican
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Life
    • Family
    • Relationships
    • Faith
  • Culture
  • People
  • Subscribe
  • Jobs
  • Contribute

Copyright © All Rights Reserved The Catholic Leader

0
    0
    Your Cart
    Your cart is emptyChoose another Subscription
    Continue Shopping