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.