More than two-thirds of palliative care admissions to Australian
hospitals in 1999-00 were for patients with cancer, according to a
report released today by the Australian Institute of Health and
Welfare.
Admitted Patient Palliative Care in Australia 1999-00
is the AIHW's first national report on hospital palliative
care-funded under the Commonwealth Department of Health and
Ageing's National Palliative Care Program.
It shows that there were an estimated 21,341 palliative care
admissions to public and private hospitals in 1999-00.
The majority of palliative care patients in Australia live in
the city (75% in 1999-00), are Australian-born (70%), and have been
diagnosed with cancer (69%).
Almost 80% of palliative care admissions were to public
hospitals. The average length of stay for these patients was about
12 days (compared to just under 4 days for other patients).
'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,' report co-author
Ms Van Doeland said.
'Our figures are on palliative care provided in hospitals, but
of course we know that a great deal of palliative care is provided
outside hospitals-particularly in people's own homes. Nationally
consistent data on palliative care outside of hospitals are not
collected at the moment, but will be in the future.'
Other findings in the report include:
- More than half of palliative care admissions were for patients
aged 60-79 years, and about 22% were for patients aged 80 years or
more.
- Men accounted for 55% of palliative care admissions to
hospital.
- Procedures were reported for 60% of palliative care patients.
These included allied health interventions, of which the most
common were social work (5,248 admissions); physiotherapy (4,938);
occupational therapy (2,628); and dietetics (2,010).
18 July 2003
Further information: Mieke Van Doeland, AIHW,
tel. 02 6244 1083
Media copies of the report: Publications Officer,
AIHW, tel. 02 6244 1032
Availability: Check the AIHW
Publications Catalogue for details.