Authors
  • Clara Jellie1,
  • J Shaw1
Organisation
  • Australian Institute of Health and Welfare1
Year

1999

Excerpt

The need for high-quality information on health services is recognised as a basic requirement in the development and evaluation of health policy initiatives and interventions. In relation to palliative care, data are needed to inform evaluation of the National Strategy for Palliative Care in Australia 1998-2003 that has been released by the Commonwealth Department of Health and Aged Care (DHFS 1998a). The strategy recognises the fundamental differences in the nature of palliative care in comparison to acute health care, and aims to:
 
• support the integration of palliative care services within the health services sector:
• ensure that services are accessible to all Australians;
• ensure that available services are of high quality; and
• ensure that adequate education and information is available to all (including
  specialised programs for  those working within palliative care services).

The need for national data relating to palliative care is also highlighted in the context of current efforts to develop performance indicators for palliative care. These are proposed for reporting at a number of levels: high-level indicators as required by the current Australian Health Care Agreements for funding accountability, and other national indicators to assist in monitoring the development and delivery of palliative care services. These indicators will also facilitate improvements at the local service level.

Consequently, there is a an urgent need for the development of a National Minimum Data Set for palliative care (NMD8--palliative care) to provide descriptive information in relation to palliative care and to underpin the reporting of performance indicators. The development of a NMD8-palliative care would signify an agreement among all States and Territories to collect a specified core data set according to nationally agreed definitions. Recommendations to develop such a NMDS have been supported by Palliative Care Australia (PCA-the peak non-government organisation representing palliative care service providers), State and Territory health authorities, and the Commonwealth Department of Health and Aged Care.

1.1 Aims of this report
The aims of this report are:
• to describe the palliative care service delivery environment and implications for the
  development of the NMDS--palliative care;
• to provide an assessment of existing data collections relating to palliative care;
• to describe performance indicator data requirements and data development
   processes; and
• to provide information on work undertaken to date in developing the NMDS
   - palliative care, and to make recommendations for the future development of
   palliative care data.

To access the full report follow the link below
http://www.aihw.gov.au/publications/index.cfm/title/5200

© Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 1999 reproduced by permission