Supporting end-of-life planning and care

General practitioners (GPs) play a vital role in providing palliative care. This webinar will explore the GP’s responsibilities in end-of-life care and discuss strategies to proactively plan for patients, ensuring quality person-centred end-of-life care at home.

Key topics explored in this webinar:

Prompts for End-of-Life Planning (PELP) framework 

The Prompts for End-of-Life Planning (PELP) Framework will be introduced. This framework encourages the identification of patients at risk of deteriorating and dying, prompting meaningful conversations about their care goals and preferences. These ongoing discussions help create person centred management plans that reflect the person's wishes and reduce making difficult decisions during emotional times.

Symptom management with palliMEDS app 

Discover how the palliMEDS app assists primary care prescribers in managing terminal phase symptoms effectively in the community including: 

• how to search by symptom or medicine.
• how to use the opioid calculator for safe prescribing. 

Timely access to medicines with the Core Medicines List

Overview of the caring@home Core Medicines List; a list of four PBS-listed medicines to manage common symptoms in the terminal phase for home based patients requiring urgent symptom relief.  

Quality Improvement through clinical audit 

• Introduction to a clinical audit tool aligned with the PELP Framework.
• How to reflect on current practice against RACGP standards and national end-of-life care guidelines.
• Guidance on identifying opportunities for continuous improvement. 

Learning outcomes:

1. Implement a framework of palliative care to support timely planning and high-quality care for patients with a life-limiting illness.
2. Demonstrate use of the palliMEDS app to support prescribing for common symptoms in the terminal phase.
3. Identify the four core palliative care medicines for managing terminal phase symptoms in community patients requiring urgent relief.