Palliative Care Guidelines and Standards
Medication Guidelines
For many years palliative care service providers have been concerned about how to effectively, safely and legally administer medications for palliative care patients who choose to be cared for, and to die at home if possible. These concerns are addressed in the Guidelines for the handling of palliative care medicines in community services.
The Guidelines were developed as part of the caring@home project (led by Brisbane South Palliative Care Collaborative and funded by the Australian Government) and are endorsed by Palliative Care Australia. They represent a consensus-based approach to the handling of palliative care medicines by community services and consider jurisdictional legislative requirements, policies and guidelines across all Australian states and territories.
For more information, email caringathome@health.qld.gov.au.
Strategies/Guidelines/Statements
- Palliative Care Australia Position Statements
- PCA Position Statement (Sep 2019) on Voluntary Assisted Dying and Palliative Care
- Voluntary Assisted Dying in Australia: Guiding principles for those providing care to people with a life-limiting illness
- PCA statement: Sustainable access to opioids for use in palliative care
- National Palliative Care Strategy 2018 (Feb 2019)
- National Palliative Care Standards
- National Safety & Quality Health Service Standards Guide for Hospitals
- Palliative Care Service Development Guidelines
- Pain in Residential Aged Care Facilities 2018 (Aust Pain Society)
- National Guidelines for Spiritual Care in Aged Care