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Rationale

The final six months of a person’s life are the most resource intensive in terms of health system usage, with 80% of this expenditure occurring in hospital. International studies suggest the involvement of GPs increase the probability of dying at home, decrease hospitalisations, and reduce aggressive interventions at the end of life. In the Australian context the care given to cancer patients by primary health care professionals is often unseen by other health services. The establishment of a health services linked dataset means this outside hospital activity is now able to be mapped.

 

Key Aim (s) 

It aims to understand the primary health service usage for cancer patients at the end of life, and associations with place of death and other quality indicators.

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Potential Impact 

Understanding the role and impact of primary health care professionals will enable better service planning and delivery to people with advanced cancer.

 

Key contact

Matthew Grant   matthew.grant@svha.org.au

 

Funding: 

St Vincent’s Hospital Research Endowment Fund, RACGP Foundation, HCF Foundation

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