Frontline health staff in Northern Sydney will be eligible for training in palliative care following an investment of $100 million over four years, Member for Davidson, Jonathan O’Dea said today.
“I welcome the initiative, which follows my support of previous successful calls for additional palliative care funding in the northern region of Sydney.”
The record funding package for palliative care services is a state Budget initiative announced by Minister for Health Brad Hazzard and Treasurer Dominic Perrottet.
Mr O’Dea said, “This Budget provision means that our health staff can upskill their training in palliative care, as well as paying for additional specialist nurses and doctors to be recruited.”
“We want the community to have confidence and choice in their end-of-life care and this step is a huge help towards that outcome, he said.”
The announcement follows a series of nine palliative care roundtables held across NSW in recent weeks, during which health care workers, service providers, family members of people who had experienced palliative care, and health administrators had discussed ways to improve the delivery of end-of-life care.
“We have listened to the views of communities from Broken Hill to Sydney and from Griffith to Newcastle,” Mr Hazzard said. “We know that the need is to expand our palliative care resources and choices at a local level.
“We are asking nurses and other allied health staff to apply for scholarships and for training. This is a win for the professional development of our local healthcare workers and for our communities, he said.”
The 2017-18 NSW Budget will include palliative care training for 300 nurses and allied health staff, 300 scholarships for rural and regional staff to upgrade their palliative care skills, an additional eight palliative care specialists for rural and regional areas and an additional 30 palliative care nurses providing care in hospitals, homes and nursing homes.
