Workforce Symposium

Communities of Care PalliHub Tasmanian Research State of Palliative Care Report Workforce Symposium Workforce Diversity Core Capability Framework Palliative Care Round Table

In November 2021, Palliative Care Tasmania (PCT) with the support of the Tasmanian Government held the inaugural palliative care workforce development symposium.

The event brought together over 120 delegates from across Tasmania and fostered a multidisciplinary collaboration, equipping attendees with knowledge, skills, and networks to continue making valuable contributions and changes to the way they approach and deliver palliative care services.

The 2021 Symposium was a hybrid in-person and virtual event.

Theme

The State of Palliative Care Symposium (Strengthening our Workforce)

With demand for palliative care expected to increase by 135% nationally by 2060 (KPMG Investigating to Save – https://palliativecare.org.au/download/16512/), significant reform being planned in aged care, and an ageing workforce in Tasmania, now is the time to take action.

The State of Palliative Care Symposium (Strengthening our Workforce) connected delegates with national and Tasmania experts in the areas of:

Aged care;
Palliative care data and benchmarking;
Unpaid caring; and
Tasmanian health care reform.

It launched the biennial State of Palliative Care Report, which identified key workforce issues for priority action.

It also included a series of Symposium Workshops for delegates to contribute ideas for future-proofing the palliative care workforce. Workshops were facilitated in small groups, based on the key Symposium themes, and delegates shared stories, organisation’s palliative care strengths, areas that need to be improved, and exciting opportunities for development. The results of the Symposium Workshops were provided to the Tasmanian Government, key sector educators, and stakeholders to effectively plan to ensure all Tasmanians have equitable access to effective palliative care.

This was an opportunity for delegates to get to know other people in their sector, hear about the latest research, engage in high-level debates and refine their ideas and have some fun.

2021 The State of Palliative Care (Strengthening our workforce) Speakers:

State of Palliative Care Report
Nick McShane Stenning & Associates, & David Morgan, Artibus Innovation

Will the Royal Commission Reform package deliver better palliative care for older Australians?
Prof Deborah Parker, University of Technology, Sydney

The less visible side of caring
Corin Boughton, National Director – Program and Operations, Carers Australia

Gaps in Workforce Knowledge
Sabina Clapham, Australian Health Services Research Institute, University of Wollongong

What does Palliative Care look like in tasmanian health care reform
Kathrine Morgan-Wicks, Secretary and Head of Agency, Department of Health Tasmania

Showcase – The Community of Care HUB & GP Portal
Palliative Care Tasmania

2021 The State of Palliative Care (Strengthening our workforce) Workshops:

Workforce Symposium Delegates were invited to contribute to four breakout workshops. All four workshops were attended by each in-person delegate.

Workshops were a rapid-fire brainstorming session where discussion was facilitated around key questions. Notes were taken during the workshop and consolidated into a report.

Workshop questions/discussions are listed below:

1. What are the benefits of PCOC routine outcome measurement (and benchmarking) for:

The patients and their families
The clinical team
The service

2. What are the challenges to develop a national data set for specialist palliative care services?

Technical (IT challenges)
Cultural Challenges
other

3. How do unpaid carers and professionals work alongside each other?

What are the main issues?
What works well?
What is a challenge? How can we addresses these challenges?

4. Do carers understand they are part of the Palliative Care “workforce”?

What is the benefit of creating pathways for carers/volunteers to be part of the paid workforce?
What type of support and training might be required?
How could palliative care professionals identify and support unpaid carers differently to improve their health and wellbeing?