Palliative Care roundtable is underway today

BY JESSICA ROUSE

The state of the Hunter's palliative care will finally be discussed at a roundtable today in Newcastle.

Parliamentary Secretary for the Hunter Scot MacDonald is hosting the discussions which will ideally help the government better tailor end-of-life care for the region.

He says the government already provides considerable support for the Hunter through Palliative Care Services with the community outreach 24 hours a day, nursing staff and a dedicated 24-hour Palliative Care Unit outreach service at Calvary Mater Hospital; but this is the perfect platform for the community to raise any and all of their concerns.

"This is not about us talking to them, it's about us listening to those in that sector who some have been working in that field for decades. It is changing and I've had discussions with palliative care nurses as late as yesterday and they noticed very much the changing culture and changing attitudes from society," said Scot MacDonald.

This is only the start of discussions according to the government, which can only be good news for the Hunter.

"We certainly took notice of the strong feeling in the community and this isn't going to go away. We have one roundtable now that doesn't mean now and that doesn't mean we stop. I think there should be an ongoing conversation. As its described to me this is becoming more and more demanding and more and more complex," said Scot MacDonald.

Newcastle MP Tim Crakanthorp says it's about time the government did listen, and is keen to see just what the future will hold for vital palliative care services in the Hunter.

"There's a growing demand for palliative care services in this are and we've got an increasing aging population so we need more and better services available," 

"We are the only non-Coalition seat in the state having one which is disgraceful in itself, but its good that we've got one here." said Tim Crakanthorp.

Finally a Palliative Care roundtable for Newcastle

BY JESSICA ROUSE

The state government has now agreed to hold a roundtable on palliative care in NEWCASTLE following a concerted push by the opposition.

It comes after state member for Newcastle Tim Crakanthorp slammed the government for leaving the city out of such an important conversation.

"Its a huge issue for everyone and every family in the country in fact because everyone will die but people want to choose where they can die if they can and they don't want to die in the back of an ambulance or in the hospital where they can't necessarily be surrounded by their loved ones," said Tim Crakanthorp.

Parliamentary Secretary for the Hunter Scot MacDonald announced late yesterday that the roundtable will be held next month and headed by Parliamentary Secretary for Regional and Rural Health Leslie Williams.

Leslie Williams says every health district has its own needs and challenges and with 50,000 people already dying in NSW each year, something needs to be done with the figure expected to double by 2056.

Scot MacDonald is urging for the politics to be taken out of palliative care, "it is a difficult subject there's no question about it but the roundtable will come in early June. We'll look at what are we doing now, have we got the right resources, have we got palliative care where we need it, all those sorts of things. Everything should be on the table".

Roundtables are also scheduled for Lismore, Kempsey, Broken Hill, Tamworth, Griffith, Queanbeyan and Kiama.

The date and venue will be confirmed for the Newcastle roundtable later this month.