The author of the ACU report, Dr. Cris Abbu, said that there should be more efforts taken to encourage doctors and nurses to enter the speciality of palliative care.
"Palliative care remains one of the least-preferred specialisations of medical students for future practice," said Abbu. "The rates of full-time equivalent palliative medicine physicians and palliative care nurses have remained unchanged since 2013, despite the increasing demand."
Abbu suggested that the government of Australia subsidize the training of 225 new palliative care physicians in order to better satisfy the demand for the specialty. He also said there should be a community-based approach to palliative care, in order to ease strain on hospitals.
Currently, public hospitals are the providers of palliative care services in 86% of cases in Australia.
"Given an aging population and an increase in the incidence of chronic illnesses, both of which imply increasing need for palliative care services, the burden on public hospitals is likely to increase in the future unless we find workable alternatives," said Abbu.
(Story continues below)
Subscribe to our daily newsletter
Christine Rousselle is a former DC Correspondent for Catholic News Agency. Prior to working at CNA, she was the managing web editor of Townhall.com; she has a BA in political science from Providence College.