Published by Palliative Care Australia, Wednesday 2 May
Palliative care works. People referred to palliative care early live longer. People who use palliative care are less likely to end up in an Intensive Care Unit. But if palliative care is to become a universally accessible service in Australia, new approaches to funding will be needed, based on the experience of funding reforms in other parts of the health system. As Grattan Institute’s Health Program Director Stephen Duckett writes, palliative care will not fulfil its promise in this country until it has a sound funding basis, with clear performance criteria, and clear recognition of its place in the wider health system.