Leadership and governance

The acute health service’s policies and procedures demonstrate a systematic approach to end of life care across the service, meeting the requirements of:

• National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards (Standard 9: Recognising and responding to clinical deterioration, and other standards)⁸ 
• National consensus statement: essential elements for safe and high-quality end-of-life care
• National consensus statement: essential elements for safe and high-quality paediatric end-of-life care
• the service’s Statement of Priorities relating to advance care planning and the Care Plan for the Dying Person – Victoria (or equivalent).

The acute health service acknowledges and demonstrates that:

• sustainable, safe and high-quality end of life care cannot be achieved without the commitment and leadership of executive and senior medical staff
• care at end of life (last 12 months) is fundamental to the work of all physicians and other health professionals. Physicians must provide clinical leadership.⁹
• culturally appropriate end of life care requires a whole-of-organisation approach 
• effective end of life care is proactive, anticipatory and individual
• the quality of end of life care, including care in the terminal phase, is part of the service's processes of clinical governance.

⁸ This information will be updated when Version 2 of National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards is released.

⁹ The Royal Australian College of Physicians 2016,  Improving Care at the End of Life: Our roles and Responsibilities, accessed at The Royal Australasian College of Physicians March 2017