❓ Hon Adele Farina questions the Minister for Health regarding changes to community palliative care nurse services in the South West, focusing on access criteria, assessment processes, and the impact on emergency services. The Minister's response outlines the roles of GPs, medical specialists, and local hospitals in providing palliative care and managing after-hours support.
AnsweredQoN 326Legislative Council
QuestionView source ↗
COMMUNITY
PALLIATIVE CARE NURSE SERVICE — SOUTH WEST
326. Hon ADELE FARINA to the
minister representing the Minister for Health:
I refer to changes to the community palliative care nurse
service in the south west.
(1) How is it
determined that a palliative patient is in the terminal phase and can have
access to the palliative care nurse service at home?
(2) Who makes
the case-by-case assessment and determines whether the patient can have access
to those services?
(3) Who makes
the assessment and determines whether the patient can have access to the
palliative care nurse telephone advice line?
(4) In
relation to the telephone advice line —
(a) How many
nurses will be available to take the calls after hours?
(b) What
arrangements have been put in place to ensure calls to the telephone advice
line are immediately answered and that people will not get an engaged signal if
the only rostered nurse is on another call?
(5) Does the
minister understand that scaling back the community palliative care nurse
service in the south west will result in a higher demand on emergency
departments and hospital beds in the south west and on St John Ambulance
services?
PALLIATIVE CARE NURSE SERVICE — SOUTH WEST
326. Hon ADELE FARINA to the
minister representing the Minister for Health:
I refer to changes to the community palliative care nurse
service in the south west.
(1) How is it
determined that a palliative patient is in the terminal phase and can have
access to the palliative care nurse service at home?
(2) Who makes
the case-by-case assessment and determines whether the patient can have access
to those services?
(3) Who makes
the assessment and determines whether the patient can have access to the
palliative care nurse telephone advice line?
(4) In
relation to the telephone advice line —
(a) How many
nurses will be available to take the calls after hours?
(b) What
arrangements have been put in place to ensure calls to the telephone advice
line are immediately answered and that people will not get an engaged signal if
the only rostered nurse is on another call?
(5) Does the
minister understand that scaling back the community palliative care nurse
service in the south west will result in a higher demand on emergency
departments and hospital beds in the south west and on St John Ambulance
services?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for some notice of the question.
(1) Patients
are always under the management of a general practitioner or medical
specialist. Decisions regarding a patient's condition and stage of
illness are made by the treating medical practitioner or medical specialist.
The GP or medical specialist discusses with the patients and their family
and/or carers the choice of treatment or palliative care.
(2) Each
patient is assessed by the medical and nursing team in relation to the patient's
symptoms and care needs. The patient, family and carers are included in
discussions to determine the most appropriate place for the patient to be cared
for.
(3) Any patient, family member or carer has access to the
telephone advice line.
(4) (a) Across
the south west region, after-hours advice for current community palliative care
patients is provided by the local hospital senior nurse.
(b) All local
hospitals have local after-hours telephone procedures. Calls are via either
cascaded phone lines or a switchboard, which directs calls to the relevant
staff, according to local procedure.
(5) Resourcing
for palliative services in the south west is comparable to the rest of regional
Western Australia. Palliative care is provided as a continuum of services,
which ranges from providing care in the home through GPs, in the community,
hospice and emergency departments. Unfortunately, even when palliative care
nurses are available to provide care in the home, sometimes a patient will have
to go to hospital via an emergency department as their care requirements exceed
what can be reasonably managed in the home.
(1) Patients
are always under the management of a general practitioner or medical
specialist. Decisions regarding a patient's condition and stage of
illness are made by the treating medical practitioner or medical specialist.
The GP or medical specialist discusses with the patients and their family
and/or carers the choice of treatment or palliative care.
(2) Each
patient is assessed by the medical and nursing team in relation to the patient's
symptoms and care needs. The patient, family and carers are included in
discussions to determine the most appropriate place for the patient to be cared
for.
(3) Any patient, family member or carer has access to the
telephone advice line.
(4) (a) Across
the south west region, after-hours advice for current community palliative care
patients is provided by the local hospital senior nurse.
(b) All local
hospitals have local after-hours telephone procedures. Calls are via either
cascaded phone lines or a switchboard, which directs calls to the relevant
staff, according to local procedure.
(5) Resourcing
for palliative services in the south west is comparable to the rest of regional
Western Australia. Palliative care is provided as a continuum of services,
which ranges from providing care in the home through GPs, in the community,
hospice and emergency departments. Unfortunately, even when palliative care
nurses are available to provide care in the home, sometimes a patient will have
to go to hospital via an emergency department as their care requirements exceed
what can be reasonably managed in the home.
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