Challenges of implementing voluntary assisted dying in Victoria, Australia

Abstract

Background: Staff working in community palliative care services are accustomed to the intimate conversations that a patient being at home can engender. Being at home can provide a safe space for a patient to express difficulties, including expressing a desire for hastened death. With the implementation of voluntary assisted dying in Victoria in mid-2019, palliative care services have needed to review and adapt policies and practices to incorporate this new procedure. While it was anticipated that a small percentage of people would request access to voluntary assisted dying, in the wake of such significant change, there were numerous implications for palliative care services to consider. This paper describes both the organisational and individual changes undertaken by one community-based palliative care service, in anticipation of legalised assistance in dying. The range of responses to the issues raised are discussed, in preparation for, and in the early days of, voluntary assisted dying.