Embedding quality in practice: Using the Standards and Palliative Care Self-Assessment (PaCSA) to strengthen palliative care
An article written by Kate Ritchie, Senior Project Officer, Palliative Care Australia
Palliative care is delivered in many places—by many hands. Whether you're a nurse in aged care, a GP in a rural clinic, or an allied health professional in the community, your role in supporting people with life-limiting illness is vital. But how do we know we’re delivering the best care possible? And how can we keep improving to ensure that we are providing high-quality palliative care to all?
The National Palliative Care Standards, developed by Palliative Care Australia (PCA), and the associated Palliative Care Self-Assessment (PaCSA) tool offer a practical, user-friendly way to reflect on your practice, identify opportunities for improvement, and enhance the quality of palliative care within your service.
Why the Standards matter
The Standards—developed for both specialist and generalist palliative care providers—describe what high-quality palliative care looks like. They are grounded in person-centred, holistic care and are designed to be relevant across all settings, from hospitals to homes.
For clinicians, the Standards provide more than a framework for service delivery—they offer a shared language and a set of expectations that can guide day-to-day decisions, team discussions, and long-term planning. They also align with broader accreditation frameworks like the NSQHS Standards, the National Safety and Quality Primary and Community Healthcare Standards, and the Strengthened Aged Care Standards, making them a valuable tool for integrated quality improvement.
What is PaCSA?
The Palliative Care Self-Assessment (PaCSA) is a free, downloadable tool that supports services in evaluating how well they align with the nine National Palliative Care Standards.
Each PaCSA checklist is mapped to relevant accreditation standards and is broken down into bite-sized chunks—small, manageable sections that make it easier for teams to reflect, discuss, and take action without feeling overwhelmed. These sections include prompts to:
- Reflect on current capability,
- Identify evidence of good practice,
- Set goals for improvement, and
- Plan actions with clear responsibilities and timelines.
It’s designed to be flexible—whether you’re a sole practitioner or part of a large multidisciplinary team, you can use PaCSA to guide meaningful conversations and drive change.
The role of allied health in quality palliative care
Allied health professionals—including physiotherapists, occupational therapists, speech pathologists, dietitians, social workers, psychologists, spiritual care workers, and others—play a critical role in delivering holistic palliative care. Your contributions support physical comfort, emotional wellbeing, communication, nutrition, mobility, and dignity at the end of life.
The Standards and PaCSA provide a framework for allied health professionals to:
- Reflect on how their discipline contributes to person-centred care,
- Identify opportunities to strengthen interdisciplinary collaboration,
- Advocate for culturally safe and inclusive practices, and
- Demonstrate the value of allied health in quality improvement initiatives.
Whether you're working independently or as part of a broader team, PaCSA can help you articulate your impact and align your practice with national expectations.
How clinicians can use it
You don’t need to wait for a formal review or accreditation cycle to start using PaCSA. Here are a few ways clinicians are already using it:
- Team meetings: Use one Standard at a time to guide discussion and identify small, achievable improvements.
- Professional development: Reflect on your own practice and identify areas for growth or training.
- Service planning: Use the checklists to inform quality improvement plans, funding proposals, or service redesign.
Importantly, PaCSA isn’t about ticking boxes—it’s about creating space for reflection, learning, and collaboration.
Start small, think big
Improving palliative care doesn’t always require big changes. Sometimes, it starts with a conversation: Are we supporting carers effectively? Are we documenting goals of care clearly? Are we confident our care is culturally safe?
By using the Standards and PaCSA, clinicians can lead quality improvement from the ground up—strengthening not only their own practice, but the systems and services around them.
Want to learn more or share your story?
To access the PaCSA checklists and the “how-to” guide, visit Palliative Care Australia’s webpage: https://palliativecare.org.au/national-palliative-care-standards-for-specialist-palliative-care-providers-5-1-edition-2024/
If you’d like to share how you’re using the Standards or PaCSA in your practice—or if you have questions—PCA would love to hear from you. Reach out via projects@palliativecare.org.au
Author
Kate Ritchie
Senior Project Officer
Palliative Care Australia