Palliative care hospital admissions rise

Patients aged 75 years and over accounted for nearly half of palliative care hospital admissions in 2010-11, a new report has revealed.

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) showed the number of palliative care related hospital admissions rose by 49% between 2001-02 and 2010-11.

The report, Palliative care services in Australia 2013, showed there were about 54,500 palliative care related admissions to public and private hospitals in Australia in 2010-11.

While palliative care admissions accounted for 0.6% of all hospital admissions in 2010-11, about 37% of patients who died as an admitted patient had been a palliative care patient during their final admission.

About 16,500 patients, representing more than two thirds of palliative care patients, died with cancer as a principal diagnosis.

The report also shows that during 2011-12, nearly 12,300 permanent residential aged care residents were assessed as needing palliative care.

In the same year, about 9,600 patients received a palliative medicine specialist service subsidised through the Medicare Benefits Schedule, for which about $3.5 million was paid in benefits. Over the five years to 2011-12, benefits paid for these services more than doubled.

Laxatives were the most frequently prescribed palliative care related medications, followed by analgesics and anti-epileptics.

There were an estimated 92 specialist palliative care physicians working in Australia in 2011, of which more than half were women.