Created through extensive consultation over a 12 month period with the health, social and community sectors, as well as with consumers, carers, and community groups, the Townsville Area Palliative Care Plan 2020-2024 intends to create a roadmap for our region that will enable the communities we call home to care for our people, with services and supports reflective of the society we wish to have.

The Townsville Area Palliative Care Plan 2020-2024 is remarkable because, for the first time, a palliative care plan has been endorsed by not only health services but also local councils. Acknowledging that palliative care truly is everybody’s business.

Palliative Care Queensland, Northern Queensland Primary Health Network, and Townsville Hospital and Health Service, as well as the Mayors across the Townsville Area and the Townsville Aboriginal and Islander Health Service all endorsing the nine directions outlined in the plan.

Palliative Care Queensland CEO, Shyla Mills “Today is a historic day, a regional plan has been created in conjunction with stakeholders from across the region and endorsed. Palliative Care is more than health care, its health, social, and community care. The community play a key role in supporting people experiencing ageing, dying, death, and grief and the local councils in the Townsville Area have come together to recognise that the way we care for our dying is a significant indicator of the kind of society we are.”

“We believe that this provides a strong foundation for the direction outlined to be implemented across the next four years and for palliative care to be revolutionised in the Townsville region.”

“We look forward to working with all stakeholders to undertake the challenge that we have laid out; to create a sector that cares for and meets the needs of everyone experiencing ageing, dying, death, and grief.”

The nine directions outlined in the plan create a holistic approach to palliative care across the region, covering every element of care and include:

• Direction 1: Raise Awareness and Build Community Capacity
• Direction 2: Care Navigation
• Direction 3: Rural and Remote Areas
• Direction 4: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders
• Direction 5: Advance Care Planning
• Direction 6: Integration of Care
• Direction 7: Workforce
• Direction 8: Monitoring, Evaluation and Research
• Direction 9: Disaster Planning, Response and Recovery

For more information about the report, click here.