WARRNAMBOOL’S state-first hospice in the home program will come under the spotlight at a Parliamentary inquiry into end of life choices.
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Hospice president Eric Fairbank said the Warrnambool program would provide something of a case study for what could be rolled out to support the terminally ill in other areas.
Warrnambool and District Community Hospice officially got under way on Monday. Trained volunteers help families with the care of terminally ill loved ones to allow them to die in their own homes.
The free program is believed to be the first of its kind in the state, if not the nation.
“I asked Palliative Care Victoria did they know anyone else who was doing the same thing as this and they couldn’t find anyone,” Dr Fairbank said.
The Legislative Council’s Legal and Social Issues Committee will arrive in Warrnambool on July 30 to speak with hospice members.
Hospice vice-president Deidre Bidmade said it was an exciting opportunity for the hospice program.
“That’s looking at how people want to manage their end of life and the choices that are open to them,” she said.
“They’re very keen to hear about hospice in the home.”
Dr Fairbank said the inquiry could open the door for future change.
“The end aim is to see if any legislative changes are needed to match the desires of the community in regards to end of life care,” he said.
“The gap that we identified was that no one provides overnight or weekend or extended daytime care to help families.
“We just felt if we could help families over these periods where they’re kind of left on their own than they are more likely to stay at home if that’s what they want to do.”
Victorian Parliament’s Legal and Social Issues Committee chair Edward O’Donohue said the inquiry was an opportunity to hear from people across the state.
“The committee will be carefully examining all the issues around end of life care including palliative care, the practices of physicians assisting at this stage, practices in other jurisdictions and the current framework of legislation,” he said.
The committee will examine potential legislative changes that may be required, as well as how current medical practices and palliative care helps those managing their end of life and how end of life is managed in other states and internationally.
The Grattan Institute report Dying Well found dying in Australia was more institutionalised than most countries in the world.
While 70 per cent of Australians want to die at home, only 14 per cent actually have the chance to do so. Despite their wishes, about half of Australians die in hospital and a third in residential care.
The report found Australians died at home at half the rate that people do in countries other nations such as the United States, New Zealand and France.
