Voluntary Assisted Dying (VAD) is a process which allows a person in the late stages of advanced disease to take medication prescribed by a doctor that will bring about their death at a time they choose. Only people who meet all the conditions and follow the process set out in the law can access the voluntary assisted dying medication.
The Victorian government established the State-wide Voluntary Assisted Dying Care Navigator Service (care navigator service) to provide information and support regarding voluntary assisted dying for the community, health practitioners and health services across Victoria.
The care navigators are a team of highly experienced health professionals (nurses, social workers, psychologists) who act as a point of contact for the community, health practitioners and health services across Victoria who seek information about or assistance with voluntary assisted dying.
The state-wide VAD care navigators are located in metro Melbourne and are supported in the Gippsland region by the regional VAD care navigator (0.4 FTE) based at Latrobe Regional Hospital.
Care navigators work closely with the person, their carers, family and friends, medical practitioners, and healthcare teams to tailor support that meets the needs of the person. For example, they may assist with identifying appropriate service referral pathways and connecting people to health practitioners and services that best meet their specific needs and goals of care.
The service may provide:
Care navigators are available during business hours. Please note: there is no after hours care navigator service.
Enquiries to the care navigator service can be made by anyone, not just the person themselves.
Referrals can be made by GP’s, patients, family members and carers or any other health professional involved in their care.
The patient must be assessed as eligible by 2 VAD trained medical practitioners, one of whom must be a specialist in the patients underlying illness. E.G a neurologist for motor neurone disease.
Any Dr who is a fellow of a college or a vocationally registered GP can undertake the medical practitioner training. The training is available online and can either be completed at any time or through a care navigator facilitated training day.
The Gippsland VAD assessment and permit approval process can take around 6 weeks or more due to the low number of VAD trained medical practitioners available to support the VAD process.
Where there are no suitable VAD trained Drs locally, patients will need to travel for assessments.
Gippsland Regional VAD Care Navigator Phone: 0448 003 464 Email: vadsupport@lrh.com.au |
State-wide care navigator service Phone: 03 8559 5823 or 0436 848 344 Email: vadcarevanigator@petermac.org |
