Palliative Care
 
Program Overview and Rationale
Central Coast Health Palliative Care Services submitted a project proposal in April 2007 (via NSW Health) to the Commonwealth Palliative Care for People at Home Program. Confirmation of success of the application was received March 2008 with a contract issued in August 2008. The objective of the Palliative Care for People at Home Program is to improve care options for people wanting to die at home. The approaches developed under this Initiative will be based on best practice and will exhibit a flexibility of design which will allow them to meet the needs of other palliative care services and locations, as appropriate.
It was anticipated that this Initiative would influence future service delivery and contribute to increasing equity of access to respite and other support services for carers of palliative care patients. Following contract re-negotiation, sign off was reached between NSCCH and Commonwealth in August 2008.
The Palliative Community Care Planning project aims to promote and strengthen General Practitioners in their primary care role to plan and coordinate optimal palliative care in community care settings, and to support the community-based carers for persons with palliative care needs (including end of life care). The project will also facilitate General Practitioner (GP) lead palliative care planning that is linked to evidenced-based best practice clinical resources including development of a specific GP initiated care-plan template. The template designed to facilitate better access and coordinate existing community services and resources that contribute to community palliative end of life care.
Duration of Program and how it operates
The project completed on 30 May 2010.
How the program benefited GPs and their patients
- Greater consistency in the level of primary palliative care delivered in community settings evidenced by a reduction in avoidable hospitalisations.
- Improvement in pain and other symptom management in community care settings evidenced by symptom burden at time of referral to specialist palliative care.
- Improved access to available end of life care resources and services evidenced by timely and appropriate referral to services (including specialist palliative care).
Current level of Program participation/utilisation
Project completed 30 May 2010. Clinical practice tools/resources were developed by a Clinical Reference Group of GPs and Pracitice Nurses, which were trialed, evaluated and distributed to all Central Coast GPs and practices and available on the CCDGP website:
Enquiries: CCDGP Reception Phone: 4365 2294 or email: reception@ccdgp.com.au
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