Expanded system for end of life care

More ways to improve end-of-life care in Gippsland aged care facilities have been introduced through a grant from the Gippsland Primary Healthcare Network.
The funding will extend access to the IMPREST system to 94 per cent of aged care facilities in Gippsland, the highest rate of any region in Australia.
GPHN chief executive officer Amanda Proposch said the system allowed registered health practitioners to access prescription medicines including those used for people receiving palliative care.
Medications are provided to an aged care facility as "ward stock" rather than for a specific resident.
She said many benefits had already been shown including helping to mitigate shortages of essential medications and enabling general practitioners and locums to prescribe medications on site and without delays.
Ms Proposch said admissions to emergency departments for pain management and similar also can be lessened.
She stated that in 2020-2021 there were 1568 presentations to hospital emergency departments in Gippsland by people whose usual residence was a registered aged care facility.