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Parliamentary Questions


Question Without Notice No. 1230 asked in the Legislative Council on 27 November 2018 by Hon Jim Chown

Parliament: 40 Session: 1

PALLIATIVE CARE

1230. Hon JIM CHOWN to the parliamentary secretary representing the Minister for Health:

(1) What was the number of deaths from a diagnosed medical condition in Western Australia in the years 2016 and 2017?

(2) How many of these patients referred to in (1) passed on within the embrace of the health department's palliative care system?

(3) Please give the number of dedicated palliative care doctors currently employed in the Western Australian health system and their locations.

(4) What was the health department's budget allocation for palliative care in the years 2016–17 —

(a) in the greater metropolitan area; and

(b) in regional Western Australia?

Hon ALANNA CLOHESY replied:

I thank the honourable member for some notice of the question.

(1) The Australian Bureau of Statistics 2018 states that there were 14 839 deaths in Western Australia in 2016, and 14 497 deaths in Western Australia in 2017. Detailed analysis on the causes of Western Australian deaths for these years is not yet available.

Hon Jim Chown interjected.

Hon ALANNA CLOHESY: They are from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The leading underlying causes of death in Australia in 2016 were coronary heart disease, dementia and Alzheimer's disease, cerebrovascular disease, lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The source of this is the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare report ''Deaths in Australia 2018''. Approximately 70 per cent of these deaths would have been expected deaths. Reference for this is Lynn, J; Adamson, D, ''Living Well at the End of Life: Adapting Health Care to Serious Chronic Illnesses in Old Age 2003''. A proportion of these may have benefited from palliative care. Not everyone who dies an expected death will require palliative care.

(2) The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare report states that in 2015–16 there were 6 034 palliative care–related hospitalisations in Western Australia. Note that this is an underestimate of inpatient palliative care activity in the state and also does not include the number of patients cared for in a community setting. Figures for 2016–17 were not available as at 27 November 2018.

(3) This information is provided in tabular form under the heading ''Dedicated Doctors West Australian Health Care System—estimate''. Each column leads with ''Doctors'', ''Numbers'' and ''Combined FTE'' and the table is graded by metropolitan services and regional services. The table is from the ''WA End-of-Life and Palliative Care Strategy 2018–2028''. I seek leave to have the response incorporated into Hansard.

Leave granted.

The following material was incorporated —

Dedicated Doctors West Australian Health Care System – estimate

Doctors

Numbers

Combined FTE

Doctors working full time

�1

1.0

Doctors working on a part-time or sessional basis within public system or working in private system (with publicly funded beds)

�26

10.35

Total

27

11.35

These doctors provide direct care (community, inpatient, outpatient) and consultancy across the following Palliative Care Specialist Services and across other WA health, community and aged care services:

Metropolitan Services

No.

Name

Suburb

1

Joondalup Health Campus- developing (Public/Private)

Joondalup

2

Glengarry Hospital (Private)

Duncraig

3

Silver Chain Hospice Care Service

Kingsley

Maddington

Jandakot

Mandurah

4

Kalamunda Hospital

Kalamunda

5

St John of God Subiaco Hospital (Private)

Subiaco

6

WA Paediatric Palliative Care service

Subiaco

7

Royal Perth Hospital

Perth

8

Hollywood Hospital (Private)

Nedlands

9

Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital

Nedlands

10

Bethesda Hospital (Public/Private)

Claremont

11

Metropolitan Palliative Care Consultancy Service (MPaCCS)

South Perth

12

St John of God Murdoch Hospital (Private)

Murdoch

13

St John of God Murdoch Community Hospice (Public/Private)

Murdoch

14

Fiona Stanley Hospital

Murdoch

15

Rockingham General Hospital

Rockingham

Regional Services

No.

Name

Town

1

Kimberley Regional Palliative Care Service

Broome

2

Pilbara Regional Palliative Care Service

Port Hedland

3

St John of God Geraldton Hospital (Public/Private)

Geraldton

4

Midwest Regional Palliative Care Service

Geraldton

5

Geraldton Community

Geraldton

6

Goldfields Regional Palliative Care Service

Kalgoorlie

7

Wheatbelt Regional Palliative Care Service

Northam

8

Bunbury Hospital

Bunbury

9

St John of God Bunbury Hospital (Public/Private)

Bunbury

10

South West Regional Palliative Care Service

Bunbury

11

Busselton Hospital

Busselton

12

Albany Community Hospice

Albany

13

Albany Hospital

Albany

14

Great Southern Regional Palliative Care Service

Albany

(from WA End-of-life and Palliative Care Strategy 2018–2028 maps )

 

(4) (a) For metropolitan, 2016–17 budget, approximately $35 million.

(b) For rural, 2016–17 budget, approximately $8.5 million.

Note that these budget figures are an estimate based on information provided by health service providers and non-government organisations.