Mr. L'Estrange questions the Minister for Health about ensuring sufficient palliative care specialists, particularly in regional WA, and requests the specialist-to-population ratio. The Minister assures improvements are coming, highlighting WA's unique home-based palliative care model via Silver Chain.

AnsweredQoN 252Legislative Assembly
Asked
4 April 2019
Portfolio
Health

QuestionView source ↗

PALLIATIVE CARE —
2019–20 STATE BUDGET
252. Mr S.K. L'ESTRANGE to the Minister for Health:
I have a supplementary question. I thank
the minister for his answer. Relating directly not to the budget but to the
member as the Minister for Health, can the minister guarantee that there will
be sufficient palliative care specialists to meet the needs of the population,
particularly in regional Western Australia; and, what ratio of specialist
carers per 100 000 people will be adopted?

AnswerView source ↗

We will obviously bring forward a package
that we believe will substantially redress the issue of shortages in palliative
care services. In conclusion, I warn members about the idea of beds versus head
of population. Western Australia is in a particularly unique position compared
with the other states. We have Silver Chain, which supplies a substantial
amount of palliative care services in Western Australia. It does so not in
palliative care beds, as such, but in people's homes, surrounded by
their families. Survey after survey and research upon research has demonstrated
that that is what people are looking for in their end-of-life situations. They
want to be in familiar surrounds, preferably at home, surrounded by their loved
ones. From that perspective, we do not have the same, comparable business model
for palliative care services as those that exist in other states. I can assure
the member that everyone in both this place and the other place all hold very
dearly the idea that we need to improve palliative care services, particularly
in rural and regional communities. We are very applied to that task.

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