❓ Hon Martin Aldridge asks about the readiness of the Voluntary Assisted Dying scheme, specifically regarding practitioner training and regional access. The Minister provides details on training development, cost, and regional support schemes.
AnsweredQoN 65Legislative Council
QuestionView source ↗
VOLUNTARY ASSISTED DYING
ACT — PRACTITIONER TRAINING
65. Hon
MARTIN ALDRIDGE to the minister representing the Minister for Health:
I refer to the voluntary assisted
dying scheme due to commence in Western Australia from 1 July 2021.
(1) Has pre-registration for voluntary assisted dying
scheme training opened; and, if so, on what date did it open?
(2) How many health practitioners
have registered to participate in training to date?
(3) Of those identified in (2), how
many are regional practitioners?
(4) Who will be
conducting the training, and what will be the cost and duration of the training
required?
(5) What remedy
has been found to ensure equity in access in regional WA, in light of
prohibitions on using a carriage service to communicate in relation to the
scheme?
ACT — PRACTITIONER TRAINING
65. Hon
MARTIN ALDRIDGE to the minister representing the Minister for Health:
I refer to the voluntary assisted
dying scheme due to commence in Western Australia from 1 July 2021.
(1) Has pre-registration for voluntary assisted dying
scheme training opened; and, if so, on what date did it open?
(2) How many health practitioners
have registered to participate in training to date?
(3) Of those identified in (2), how
many are regional practitioners?
(4) Who will be
conducting the training, and what will be the cost and duration of the training
required?
(5) What remedy
has been found to ensure equity in access in regional WA, in light of
prohibitions on using a carriage service to communicate in relation to the
scheme?
AnswerView source ↗
I
thank the honourable member for some notice of the question. I answer on behalf
of the Minister for Mental Health.
(1) No.
(2)–(3) Not applicable.
(4) The Western Australia voluntary assisted dying
approved training has been developed by academic staff from the Australian Centre for Health Law Research
at Queensland University of Technology. The WA VAD approved training
includes multiple online modules with interactive learning exercises. It should
take approximately six hours to complete and can be completed over multiple
sittings. There is no cost to practitioners.
(5) The regional
access support scheme has been developed to enable or support access for a person
in regional WA—for example, in
situations where there is no suitable practitioner based locally and telehealth is not appropriate or allowable. This support may include: travel and, if
required, accommodation, for the person accessing the voluntary assisted dying
process, including an escort where required; practitioner travel to a person
accessing voluntary assisted dying; and/or interpreter travel where there is no
local interpreter available and telehealth or telephone interpretation cannot
be effectively undertaken, or is not appropriate to be undertaken, and is not
able to be accessed under another provider scheme.
thank the honourable member for some notice of the question. I answer on behalf
of the Minister for Mental Health.
(1) No.
(2)–(3) Not applicable.
(4) The Western Australia voluntary assisted dying
approved training has been developed by academic staff from the Australian Centre for Health Law Research
at Queensland University of Technology. The WA VAD approved training
includes multiple online modules with interactive learning exercises. It should
take approximately six hours to complete and can be completed over multiple
sittings. There is no cost to practitioners.
(5) The regional
access support scheme has been developed to enable or support access for a person
in regional WA—for example, in
situations where there is no suitable practitioner based locally and telehealth is not appropriate or allowable. This support may include: travel and, if
required, accommodation, for the person accessing the voluntary assisted dying
process, including an escort where required; practitioner travel to a person
accessing voluntary assisted dying; and/or interpreter travel where there is no
local interpreter available and telehealth or telephone interpretation cannot
be effectively undertaken, or is not appropriate to be undertaken, and is not
able to be accessed under another provider scheme.
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