Record funding boost for palliative care of $140 Million proposed
Record funding boost for palliative care
The Victorian Liberal Party has promised to provide a record funding boost for palliative care. This comes after research* revealed that most Victorians want to live their final days at home. However, only around a third realise this final wish because the funding simply isn’t there to support community based, palliative care services.
In fact, the LNP propose to increase spending by a whopping $140 million dollars. The announcement was made today by Mr. Matthew Guy, Leader of the Victorian opposition. Simply put, Mr Guy states that, if voted into power at the next election, The Victorian Liberal Party promises to increase palliative care funding by $140,000,000.
Some of the key benefits of the proposed increased investment include:
a doubling of specialist care in many areas
Better coverage in rural areas
education and workforce developments
linkages to better after hours support such as GPs and pharmacists
better community awareness and engagement
the establishment of a broadly represented ‘End-of-Life Ministerial Council’.
47% increase in patients covered
It is worth noting that funding for community palliative care supported less than 17,000 Victorians during the 2015-2016 period. Importantly, these proposed funding increases would reach another 8,000 Victorians. This is a significant increase by any measure. In fact, it equates to a more than 47% increase in elderly sufferers supported. Plus, for the many thousands of palliative care patients not currently being supported, and their families, it would surely be a welcome relief.
Support targets the most vulnerable
These are vulnerable, elderly people in need of end-of-life care. Furthermore, keep in mind that a rapidly ageing population poses significant challenges for our community. Therefore, these proposed investments seem timely. More importantly, this proposal seems aligned to a strategy of helping terminally ill, elderly Victorians remain at home wherever possible. Naturally, where possible patients often prefer to stay at home. However, this also reflects a Federal Level move towards better home care support.
Matthew Guy, Leader of the Victorian Opposition, has been quoted as stating that:
Matthew Guy – Victorian Liberal Party Leader
“Being home and surrounded by loved ones and precious memories can make a huge difference to patients and families and we want to make sure more people have that choice if they want it.”
