Improving access to specialist palliative care for Queenslanders living in residential aged care
Under the Australian Government’s Comprehensive Palliative Care in Aged Care Measure, funding has been allocated by the Australian and Queensland Governments to provide new and innovative approaches and expansion of existing models to improve palliative and end-of-life care coordination.
Clinical Excellence Queensland is leading the implementation of the Specialist Palliative Care in Aged Care (SPACE) Project. Each Hospital and Health Service has been supported to develop a model of service delivery that is appropriate for local context, considering factors such as resourcing and geography, to improve equitable access to specialist palliative care in residential aged care. Each model must align with a number of core service principles. A key aim of the project is to increase the capacity and capability of general practice and aged care staff to deliver end-of-life care.
This four year project concludes in June 2024.
More older Australians are dying in residential aged care. While most end-of-life care in aged care is provided by generalist healthcare workers, specialist palliative care teams support people with life-limiting illnesses and complex care needs by providing direct care and supporting other healthcare workers to deliver care. Research has found specialist palliative involvement in residential aged care leads to benefits such as improved symptom management, increased advance care planning, reduced hospital admissions, and an increased number of in-facility deaths.
| Hospital and Health Service | Phone | |
|---|---|---|
| Cairns and Hinterland | cns_pallcare@health.qld.gov.au | 07 4043 3100 |
| Central Queensland | CQSPACE@health.qld.gov.au | 07 4920 6211 |
| Central West | cw-palliativecare@health.qld.gov.au | 07 4650 4082 / 0439 137 162 |
| Darling Downs | SPACEDarlingDowns@health.qld.gov.au | 0437 150 604 / 0436 465 254 |
| Gold Coast | GCHHS_SPACE@health.qld.gov.au | 0476 824 877 |
| Mackay | MHHS-SPACE@health.qld.gov.au | TBA |
| Metro North | MetroNorthSpace@health.qld.gov.au | 1300 072 327 |
| Metro South | mspcsracf@health.qld.gov.au | 1800 772 722 |
| North West | TBA | TBA |
| South West | Anna.Ferrier@health.qld.gov.au | 0429 664 631 |
| Sunshine Coast | SC-SPACE@health.qld.gov.au | 07 5436 8800 |
| Townsville | THHS-SPACE@health.qld.gov.au | 07 4433 7573 |
| Torres and Cape | Lynda.mason@health.qld.gov.au | 0448 619 431 |
| West Moreton | WMSPACE@health.qld.gov.au | 0438 664 115 |
| Wide Bay | Bundaberg: WBHHS-Bundaberg-RaSS@health.qld.gov.au Fraser Coast: WBHHS-FraserCoast-RaSS@health.qld.gov.au |
TBA |
Resources
- SPACE Service Principles (PDF, 236KB)
- A Guide to Palliative Care Education Resources (PDF, 925KB)
- Specialist Palliative Care in Aged Care (SPACE) Project summary
- Queensland Health Bereavement Resources
- Residential Aged Care Palliative Care Trolleys (PDF, 204KB)
Contact us
To find out more about the statewide project, contact the Central Project Team at SPACE@health.qld.gov.au
