Palliative Care
Palliative care plays an important role in supporting people with life-limiting illness to live as well as possible, with care that responds to their physical, emotional, social, cultural and spiritual needs.
Health professionals are central to helping patients, families and carers understand their options, plan ahead and access the right support at the right time. This section brings together practical information, resources and referral pathways to support quality palliative and end-of-life care across our region.
Support at Home: End-of-Life Pathway
The End-of-Life Pathway supports older people who have been diagnosed with three months or less to live and wish to remain at home during the final stage of life.
Delivered under the Support at Home program, the pathway provides short-term funding for approved in-home aged care services, such as personal care, domestic assistance and nursing care, and is designed to complement state and territory palliative care services. Health professionals can support eligible patients by confirming eligibility, completing the End-of-Life Pathway form, including an Australian-modified Karnofsky Performance Status score, and helping patients, carers or providers submit the form through the appropriate My Aged Care pathway.
Greater Choices for At Home Palliative Care (GCfAHPC) Project
MPHN is one 31 PHN’s across the nation to receive funding to coordinate palliative care activities in their region.
The GCfAHPC identifies being cared for and dying at home is most people’s preference. This initiative aims to help make that possible by enhancing local service provision, to improve access to safe, quality palliative care at home and support end-of-life care systems and services in primary healthcare and community care.
Getting to the heart of it: Advance care planning in general practice
General practice is often where these conversations begin. Trusted, ongoing relationships with patients place primary care teams in a unique position to introduce advance care planning in a way that feels supportive and timely, not overwhelming.
To support this, ACPA has released a NEW Supporting ACP in general practice factsheet ahead of National Palliative Care Week. The factsheet provides clear guidance on how ACP conversations and activities align with existing processes and MBS items, showing that advance care planning is not an “add‑on”, but part of routine, high‑quality care.