Palliative Care Australia (PCA) has cautiously welcomed the Government’s palliative care funding announcements contained in last night’s Budget but warns the modest $29.6 million funding announcements alone will not be enough to address the chronic underinvestment in palliative care.
The 2022–23 Budget included funding of $7.5 million over three years to implement a palliative care patient navigator and care coordinator pilot to strengthen access to palliative care and end-of-life care service pathways.
It was announced that a further $22.1 million will be invested in Multidisciplinary Outreach Service trials in RACFs to provide more comprehensive health care with hospital-led access to specialists, allied health professionals, geriatricians and palliative care specialists.
PCA CEO Camilla Rowland says those initiatives are worthy, and indeed aligned with the recommendations contained in the recently released Palliative Care Australia Roadmap 2022-2027, but believes governments must invest more if we are to secure high-quality palliative care for all Australians who need it.