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DESPITE reiterating the current service wasn’t perfect, NSW parliamentary secretary for regional and rural health Leslie Williams came to the region with no solutions, just a resolution to listen
It’s the fifth leg of the Port Macquarie MP’s painstaking tour to each local health district in the state to find a way to provide better palliative care for each region.
The region has garnered attention among a statewide campaign calling for more end-of-life care in NSW.
“I’m not going to purport that I have the answers that are best for you,” Ms Williams told media before the Tamworth meeting.
“You can tell me what those solutions look like.”
Ms Williams, a registered nurse who has worked in palliative care, met with 30 local advocates, providers and consumers in a jam-packed room in the Bruderlin wing of Tamworth hospital.
While she said things could be done better, what exactly will be done will remain a unclear until mid-to-late June, when a discussion paper on the meetings will be released and more public comment is sought.
However, the Ms Williams hinted at state services working in coordination with non-government organisations.
“That’s not just the responsibility of the NSW government, there are of course non-government organisations that are working in this sector,” Ms Williams said.
“So maybe it’s about how we can work together and better coordinate those services.
“But today, I’m not here to provide those solutions, I’m here today to listen to this community and make sure in the future we can give them some better outcomes.”
Before whisking away Ms Williams for the meeting, Tamworth MP Kevin Anderson and Hunter New England Health director of regional and rural health services Susan Heyman defended the work of the palliative care unit in the region’s referral hospital as “second-to-none”.
“What happens for those who choose to spend their last days at home,” Mr Anderson said. “How do we care for them? Yes, we do have a challenge there.”
How it unfolded
- Late last year, the NSW Cancer Council launched a petition to NSW Health Minister asking for funding for at least 10 more specialist palliative doctors; 129 more palliative care nurses, and culturally appropriate palliative care for Aboriginal people across the state.
- Advocates have been calling on Hunter New England Health to increase its community-based palliative care services in the region since February 2016.
- There is still only one community-based nurse based in Tamworth.
- They’ve called for at least one palliative care physician and four or five specialists nurses to be added.
- Hunter New England Health announced it would advertise for an additional clinical nurse specialist in December 2016.
- Leslie Williams has endeavored to host a roundtable meeting in each of the state’s local health districts on palliative care.