More than two-thirds of palliative care patients admitted to
Australian hospitals have been diagnosed with cancer, according to
a report released today by the Australian Institute of Health and
Welfare.
Palliative care information development: progress report on the
National Minimum Data Set for Palliative Care reports progress on
first-ever national information on palliative care services in
Australian hospitals.
There were an estimated 17,824 palliative care admissions to
public and private hospitals and hospices in 1997-98.
The majority of palliative care patients in Australia live in
the city (75% in 1997-98), are Australian-born (68%), and have been
diagnosed with cancer (70%).
About 84% of palliative care admissions were to public
hospitals. The average length of stay for these patients was about
13 days (compared to 4 days for other patients).
Co-author of the report, Clara Jellie, said the development of
comprehensive data for palliative care was urgently needed to
provide more detail on the range of services available and the
people who use them.
'Caring for the dying has always been regarded as one of the
basics of providing good medical care, but it's only in recent
decades that care for people with terminal illnesses has become a
specialised area of medical and nursing practice', Ms Jellie
said.
'Also, we all know that a great deal of palliative care is
provided outside of hospitals-particularly in people's own homes.
However, nationally consistent data on this care is not yet
collected.
'AIHW is currently working with State and Territory health
authorities and the Commonwealth to ensure that information on
palliative care provided in the community will be available in the
future.'
'The Commonwealth Department of Health and Aged Care is funding
the project under the National Strategy for Palliative Care in
Australia 1998-2003.'
Other findings in the report include:
- More than one-third of palliative care admissions were patients
aged 75 years or over; approximately two-thirds were patients aged
65 years or more.
- Men accounted for 54% of palliative care admissions to
hospital.
- Procedures were reported for 45% of palliative care patients.
The most common procedures performed were counselling (1,688
admissions); diagnostic physical therapy (766); injections or
infusions (673); other rehabilitation therapy (668); and blood
transfusions (627 admissions).
23 February 2000
Further information: Clara Jellie, tel. 02 6244
1180.
For media copies of the report: Publications Officer,
tel. 02 6244 1032.
Availability: Check the AIHW Publications
Catalogue for availability.