Palliative care: new medicines list and measures

New medicines list for palliative care at home released

The National Palliative Care Project, caring@home, has released a new National Core Community Palliative Care Medicines List. This list identifies four medicines that can be prescribed by clinicians for managing end-of-life symptoms in home-based palliative care patients. These medicines address most common end-of-life symptoms, improving access to essential palliative care medicines in the community and reducing distress and unwanted transfers to hospital.

You can access the the National Core Community Palliative Care Medicines List on the caring@home website. Additionally, the website offers free resources and education for health and aged care workers to help families and carers manage end-of-life symptoms at home.

New national palliative care measures released

These measures comprehensively capture what is needed to ensure all Australians affected by life-limiting illnesses receive the care they need to live well. The domains include:

  • Effectiveness

  • Safety

  • Appropriateness

  • Continuity of care

  • Accessibility

For more details, visit the National Palliative Care Measures report.

Margot Schoonmaker