Question On Notice No. 1149 asked in the Legislative Council on 1 December 2022 by Hon Nick Goiran
Question Directed to the: Leader of the House representing the Minister for Health
Parliament: 41 Session: 1
Question
I refer to pages 5 of the Voluntary Assisted Dying Board Western Australia – Annual Report 2021-22, that states 284
patients progressed through the stages of assessment to a Final Request. Of these 284 patients, 190 deaths through the
administration of voluntary assisted dying substances were recorded, and page 31 which states during
2021-22, the Statewide Pharmacy Service supplied the prescribed voluntary
assisted dying substance on 237 occasions’, and I ask:
(a) of the 94 patients who progressed to a Final
Request but whose deaths were not recorded as ‘voluntary assisted dying
deaths’, how many of these patients remain alive today;
(b) of the 94 patients who progressed to a Final
Request but whose deaths were not recorded as ‘voluntary assisted dying
deaths’, how many of these patients were supplied with voluntary assisted dying
substances by the Statewide Pharmacy Service; and
(c) of the 94 patients who progressed to a Final
Request but whose deaths were not recorded as ‘voluntary assisted dying deaths’
and who were supplied with a voluntary assisted dying substance, how many have
since died of a cause other than the administration of a voluntary assisted
dying substance? And in each of these
cases, have the unused voluntary assisted dying substances supplied to these
patients been returned to an Authorised Disposer (the return process for any
unused voluntary assisted dying substances referred to on page 23 of the Annual
Report)?
Answered on 14 February 2023
(a) The Voluntary Assisted Dying Board has been notified of the deaths of 64 of the 94 patients. No Notification of Death Form – has been received for 30 of the 94 patients.
(b) 41
(c) 21 patients who were supplied a voluntary assisted dying substance in the period of 1 July 2021 to 30 June 2022 have since died of a cause other than administration of a VAD substance. For these 21 patients all VAD substances have been returned to an Authorised Disposer (in the case where self-administration was planned) or disposed of by the Administering Practitioner (where practitioner administration was planned).