The Guidance was commissioned by the Ministry of Health. It was developed in response to the national review of paediatric sub-specialty programmes (Ministry of Health 2010), which found that paediatric palliative care services in New Zealand, other than in Auckland, are not fully coordinated or sufficiently specialised, and generally provide no access to specialist care. The review found that many families of children with palliative care needs rely on local primary health care, community services and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to provide palliative care.
The Guidance examines existing paediatric palliative care services, both in New Zealand and internationally, and uses the results in the proposed framework.
The proposed framework provides structure for developing a coherent, integrated and coordinated system of paediatric palliative care service delivery.
The proposed framework includes:
- extending the role of the Starship Paediatric Palliative Care Team to include national support services; specifically facilitating 24/7 support to DHB nurse coordinators
- confirmation of DHB nurse coordinators and lead paediatricians
- developing and implementing an education and training process for nurse coordinators and lead paediatricians
- establishing a National Paediatric Palliative Care Network.
Purpose
This project was commissioned by the Ministry of Health to provide implementation-focused guidance to improve the integration of palliative care service delivery to children and young people in New Zealand.The project is a response to the national review of paediatric sub-specialty programmes (Ministry of Health 2010), which found that paediatric palliative care services in New Zealand, other than in Auckland, are not fully co-ordinated or sufficiently specialised, and generally provide no access to specialist care. The report pointed out that many families of children with palliative care needs rely on local primary health care, community services and non-government organisations (NGOs) for the provision of palliative care.
The goal of the project was to develop guidance that:
- is evidence-based
- where possible provides analyses of current service delivery
- reflects stakeholder involvement
- proposes models of service delivery, with a focus on implementation
- can be implemented at no extra cost to the health sector.