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Report on GRPCC Specialist Palliative Care<br />
Consultancy Program 2007-2012<br />
Access to specialist palliative care<br />
consultancy services has been very limited in<br />
Gippsland until recent years. However this<br />
is changing thanks to the GRPCC Specialist<br />
Palliative Care Consultancy Service Program.<br />
A recently compiled report on the Program<br />
shows that much progress has been made<br />
between 2007 and 2012.<br />
The Program has been possible with<br />
funding from the Department of Human<br />
Services (DHS) and Department of Health<br />
(DH), with recurrent funding since 2007<br />
through a Rural Palliative Care Medical<br />
Purchasing Fund. The GRPCC has built on<br />
this to develop a Specialist Palliative Care<br />
Consultancy Service Plan for Gippsland<br />
2011-15, which aims to have a resident<br />
regional specialist palliative care consultancy<br />
service in place by 2015.<br />
On-going partnerships with three metropolitan<br />
based palliative care consultancy<br />
services were established in 2008: Calvary<br />
Health Care Bethlehem; Peninsula Health<br />
Palliative Care Unit; and Southern Health<br />
Supportive & Palliative Care Service. Visits<br />
to Gippsland commenced later in 2008,<br />
and the service now includes four main<br />
components involving palliative medicine<br />
specialists:<br />
• Palliative care education to health professionals;<br />
• Multidisciplinary team (MDT) meetings;<br />
• Secondary phone consultations; and<br />
• Primary consultation clinics.<br />
The growth of the Program overall and its<br />
components are shown in the Figure below.<br />
Education has been an important part of the<br />
Program since its beginning and an annual<br />
regional calendar is now developed based<br />
on the needs of the region. MDT meetings<br />
to discuss palliative care patients (or issues)<br />
with the purpose of delivering best practice<br />
care started in 2009 and have become a<br />
substantial part of the service since 2010.<br />
Secondary phone consultations have been<br />
available for parts of Gippsland since 2008,<br />
but are now available to medical professionals<br />
and nurses across the region. Primary<br />
consultation clinics commenced in 2012,<br />
and have been held at Bairnsdale Regional<br />
Health Service, <strong>Central</strong> Gippsland Health<br />
Service, Gippsland Lakes Community Health,<br />
Latrobe Community Health Service and<br />
Latrobe Regional Hospital (William Buckland<br />
Radiotherapy Gippsland).<br />
The palliative care consultancy services also<br />
support the Nurse Practitioner Candidates<br />
(NPC), who are part funded by the GRPCC<br />
in three of four Gippsland sub-regions.<br />
Assistance with policy and procedure<br />
development has also been provided, e.g.<br />
the rollout of the Pathway for Improving the<br />
Care of the Dying (PICD).<br />
For further information contact Anny Byrne,<br />
GRPCC Project Officer on (03) 5623 0684 or email<br />
anny.byrne@wghg.com.au<br />
Aged Care Link<br />
Nurse Project<br />
Work is underway on the Aged Care Link<br />
Nurse Project with the recent appointment<br />
of our Palliative Aged Care Resource Nurse,<br />
Carol Barbeler.<br />
Carol’s role will be to support RACFs staff<br />
to deliver a palliative approach to care by<br />
providing free education and resources.<br />
Carol will utilise an education program<br />
that was formulated, researched and tested<br />
through a federally-funded project in<br />
Queensland. The education program and<br />
resources include advance care planning,<br />
advanced dementia care, physical and<br />
emotional care in the terminal phase of<br />
life, and end of life care pathways. This<br />
education is linked to both the Aged Care<br />
Accreditation Standards and Aged Care<br />
Funding Instrument.<br />
Access to this support will be made<br />
available to all RACFs in Gippsland, and<br />
therefore will be rolled out in stages. The<br />
Consortium Management Group has agreed<br />
to pilot the project in East Gippsland and<br />
Wellington in March 2013. We anticipate<br />
that training for RACFs in South Gippsland<br />
and Bass Coast will be available in June<br />
2013, and in La Trobe Valley and Baw<br />
Baw in October 2013. Regular updates on<br />
the Aged Care Link Nurse Project will be<br />
included in this newsletter and on the GRPCC<br />
website.<br />
For further information you can contact<br />
Carol Barbeler, GRPCC’s Palliative Aged Care<br />
Resource Nurse on (03) 5622 6482 (Mon–Fri), or<br />
email carol.barbeler@wghg.com.au<br />
600<br />
Hours<br />
500<br />
400<br />
300<br />
200<br />
100<br />
VISIT *<br />
PRIMARY CONSULTATION<br />
PHONE CONSULTATION<br />
NPC SUPERVISION<br />
MDT<br />
GENERAL ADMIN<br />
0<br />
2008-‐09 2009-‐10 2010-‐11 2011-‐12<br />
EDUCATION<br />
Number of specialist palliative care consultancy service hours to<br />
Gippsland by service category and financial year (excludes travel time). 1<br />
1<br />
Data are based on GRPCC agendas, specialist consultancy service time sheets and health service reports of visits, but it should be noted that data are<br />
not complete and cannot be seen as an accurate record.<br />
* “Visit” includes a variety of tasks, including initial visits to services and time not able to be allocated to a more specific category.<br />
GIPPSLAND REGION PALLIATIVE CARE CONSORTIUM NEWSLETTER NO.22 SUMMER 2012