The purpose of this Discussion Paper is to:
- highlight Palliative Care NSW’s (PCNSW) concern about the confusion surrounding the legal obligation to report deaths to police where a doctor is not immediately available to certify the death of a palliative care patient dying at home;
- clarify the reporting obligations of health teams (doctors, nurses and ambulance officers) attending to an expected home death; and
- suggest a “way forward” in ensuring that palliative care patients are not discouraged from receiving care in the home setting, and that their deaths are not made more distressing by involving the police, where police attendance is not legally required.