NSW planning ahead in death

Palliative Care Australia (PCA) and Palliative Care NSW (PCNSW) yesterday congratulated the NSW government for its commitment to raising awareness and encouraging advance care planning in the state.

NSW Health Minster, Jillian Skinner, released the Advance Planning for Quality Care at End of Life: Action Plan 2013‐2018 which aims to make advance care planning conversations routine for NSW residents and improve end of life care by ensuring patients’ wishes are respected.

PCNSW executive officer, Linda Hansen, said advance care planning was a topic all families should be comfortable discussing.

“We hope this Action Plan will encourage people in NSW to have the conversation and start documenting their wishes for end of life care,” she added.

The Action Plan outlines ways in which NSW Health will support patients and families and ensure their wishes and preferences are respected, for example by developing tools that help patients document decisions, ensuring advance care plans are recognised across care settings and training health professionals.

“It will help provide comfort to NSW residents that their end of life care decisions will be respected, and hopefully encourage the uptake of advance care planning in the state,” Ms Hansen said.

Advance care planning provides a mechanism to improve the quality of end of life care and offers people the opportunity to take control of decisions which affect their care.

As yet, each state and territory has its own legislation, processes and documentation relating to advance care planning which can make it confusing for consumers.

Dr Yvonne Luxford, PCA chief executive, claimed a “consistent” national approach to advance care planning was needed to make it easier for all Australians to make decisions about their end of life care regardless of where they live, and for them to be secure in the knowledge that these decisions will be respected.