The demand for palliative care has increased dramatically in the past 5 years, with a 28.2% increase in palliative care-related hospitalisations between 2011–12 and 2015–16, compared to a 14.6% increase in hospitalisations for all reasons over the same period. Whilst four out of five deaths are expected due to chronic illness, only one in two patients who died in hospital received palliative care.
Of the 226 specialist palliative care doctors; 190 work in major cities, 20 work in inner regional centres, 14 work in outer regional places and only 3 work in remote locations. The national average of 0.9 FTE per 100,000 population is well-short of the 2.0 FTE benchmark PCA is recommending in the Palliative Care Service Development Guidelines
For the future Governments and health services need to prioritise funding these positions, as well as ensuring the training pathways are there for doctors and nurses to be able to specialise in palliative care.
Palliative Care Services in Australia. Web report. AIHW 2018
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