GOVERNMENT MUST RESTORE PALLIATIVE CARE FUNDING
The end of life is something that many of us prefer not to think about, but it comes to us all and where possible, we all deserve to pass on peacefully and without unnecessary pain.
For many people diagnosed with a life-limiting illness, high quality palliative care can improve the quality of life for patients by helping the person live as well and as comfortably as possible, which is why it’s alarming to see a significant cut to the promised growth in funding to palliative care services in NSW.
The previous government committed an extra $743M over five years in funding for palliative care across NSW, a welcome boost to services that can ease the passing of so many. Part of that funding referred specifically to strengthening equity and access in rural, regional and remote areas.
However, the new government has apparently since removed $150M of that extra funding, blaming budget pressures and citing the need to use the money to recruit more nurses.
While nobody can disagree that we need more health professionals, the decision to pull that extra $150M from families at a time when they most need it is a cause for concern.
After concerns were raised in the Parliament by Labor MP Greg Donnelly, I wrote to the Health Minister, Ryan Park, to express my dismay at the funding cut.
In reply, the Minister said, “the 2023/24 Budget contains more than $1.7B for palliative care over four years, with funding to increase by 8 per cent in 2024/25”.
That’s welcome news on the surface, and it is positive that funding will continue to increase.
But the key question is: will the funding be enough for rural people to have the same access to palliative care and end-of-life choices as those living in the cities? This is an important question because by law, regional people are entitled to the same level of access to high quality care and treatment, including palliative care, as those who live in metropolitan areas.
My concerns over the funding loss are shared by Palliative Care NSW, which notes that while cutting palliative care funding, the Government allocated $97.4m towards Voluntary Assisted Dying, a new law that comes into effect this month.
Under VAD, eligible adults – those in the advanced stages of illness and experiencing unbearable suffering - can ask for medical help to end their lives via what the government describes as a “dying substance”.
Palliative Care NSW CEO Kirsty Blades is worried that reduced or diverted funding will be at the expense of ensuring equitable access to high quality palliative care and end-of-life care for the residents of NSW which might leave some people facing a hard, final choice.
“What we don’t want to see is people feeling they have no choice but to access voluntary assisted dying because they can’t access quality palliative care, which is the risk that this funding cut presents,” she says.
“The VAD legislation states that anyone initiating discussions about VAD with a health professional must also have all options discussed with them including palliative care.
“But if services are cut to palliative care and investment is not there for future palliative care needs of the community, many might feel they have no option other than to seek voluntary assisted dying, whether that’s right for them or not.”
That is a powerful point: Nobody should have to choose to end their life through VAD because there’s no other alternative.
What we know for sure is that our population is ageing and that eventually, many more of us will be face decisions about end-of-life care.
For that reason, I will continue to press the government to make sure that those who wish to have palliative care can do so.