Professor Ben White1, Ms Ruthie Jeanneret1, Professor Lindy Willmott1, Dr Eliana Close1
1Australian Centre For Health Law Research, QUT
The Victorian voluntary assisted dying system has now been in operation for 3 years. Patient perspectives are critical for assessing how the system is operating in practice. This presentation reports on findings from 28 interviews conducted with 33 participants (32 family members of patients seeking voluntary assisted dying; 1 patient interview) on their experience in seeking voluntary assisted dying in Victoria.
Thematic analysis was undertaken to identify the barriers to and facilitators of patient access to voluntary assisted dying.
Key barriers to access included: not being able to find a doctor eligible and willing to assess a patient; the prohibition on using telehealth for voluntary assisted dying; the time that being assessed for voluntary assisted dying takes, given the condition of patients; objections by institutions to allowing voluntary assisted dying; and the prohibition on doctors raising voluntary assisted dying.
Key facilitators of access included: voluntary care navigators (both the State-funded service and local navigators appointed by individual health services); finding a supportive doctor; the Statewide Pharmacy Service; the design of the voluntary assisted dying system (which once accessed generally facilitated patients through the process); and enhancements to the voluntary assisted dying system over time and with experience.
This research has implications for the design, implementation and review of voluntary assisted dying systems across Australia. Key findings include that it is critical to ensure there are sufficient doctors who are eligible and willing to provide voluntary assisted dying and that the system provides adequate supports to patients undertaking the rigorous assessment process.
Biography:
Ben White is a Professor of End-of-Life Law and Regulation at the Australian Centre for Health Law Research in the Faculty of Business and Law, QUT. He has been researching end-of-life law, policy and practice for 20 years, and now focuses on voluntary assisted dying. In late 2019, he was awarded a 4-year Australian Research Council Future Fellowship entitled ‘Optimal Regulation of Voluntary Assisted Dying’. Ben’s work has contributed to evidence-based voluntary assisted dying law reform and implementation. Key work (with Lindy Willmott) includes their model Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill and developing the mandatory training in Victoria, Western Australia and Queensland for clinicians providing voluntary assisted dying.