The Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing (DoHA) engaged Australian General Practice Network (AGPN) to manage the Rural Palliative Care (RPC) Project 2008-2011. The RPC Project is one of a number of initiatives designed to achieve the goals of the National Palliative Care Strategy.

The 2008-2011 Rural Palliative Care Project aims to build upon the successes of a pilot project conducted in Murrumbidgee Division of General Practice (GAPS) and the 2003 - 2006 pilot Rural Palliative Care Project which supported eight rural general practice palliative care projects. The current project aims to deliver enhanced access to palliative care services across a broader expanse of rural Australia. A further 36 rural and remote divisions of general practice, or consortia of divisions, have been selected to implement key elements of the previous Rural Palliative Care model. These elements include

• Direct care delivery
• Management and use of patient information
• Professional participation
• Governance and management.

Formal evaluation of each project was undertaken by the Centre for Health Service Development, University of Wollongong.

The Department of Health and Ageing also supported the development of a Resource Kit which consolidates the resources that were developed in this program.

This page was created on 10 May 2007.
Last updated on 14 September 2010