Up to $15M is available from SPCACPAS grant opportunity to improve palliative care services provided to aged care recipients.
Specialist Palliative Care and Advance Care Planning Advisory Services (SPCACPAS) Grant Opportunity
The Australian Government aims to support aged care providers and primary care providers in residential or community care settings to provide quality palliative care by funding advisory services for specialist palliative care and advance care planning through the Specialist Palliative Care and Advance Care Planning Advisory Services (SPCACPAS) Grant Opportunity.
In 2015, there were approximately 2,700 residential aged care facilities and 500 Home Care service providers providing Home Care Packages through more than 2,200 service outlets. These services operate under the terms of the Aged Care Act 1997 (the Act). Further information about aged care services funded under the Act can be found in the Report on the Operation of the Aged Care Act 1997.
SPCACPAS Grant Opportunity Background
Aged care providers and general practitioners (GPs) providing medical care to recipients of aged care services are increasingly involved in the delivery of palliative care, often without the specialist knowledge or skills to provide complex palliative care. End of life care is particularly important for people in residential aged care facilities and community aged care programs, as the most common reason for last separation of residents from permanent care is death (82%) accounting for 55,605 residents per year, whereas only 2.2% of last separations were to hospital. GPs also play an important role in providing advance care planning and palliative care, in particular for older people. In 2012, there were 23,194 registered GPs, but only 1 in 1,000 GP encounters were recorded as palliative care related, and more than 80% of these were for people aged 65 years and over. GPs provided an estimated 140,000 palliative care-related services in 2012-13.
The establishment of innovative specialist palliative care and advance care planning advisory services aligns with the Strategy through the following goals:
- Goal 2 – to enhance community and professional awareness of the scope of, and benefits of timely and appropriate access to, palliative care services;
- Goal 3 – appropriate and effective palliative care is available to all Australians based on need; and
- Goal 5 – to build and enhance the capacity of all relevant sectors in health and human services to provide quality palliative care.
SPCACPAS Grant Opportunity Objectives
The purpose of the Advisory Services is to establish and deliver advisory services, using innovative models, for aged care providers and GPs providing health care for recipients of aged care services. The objective is to coordinate and deliver innovative models of specialist palliative care and advance care planning advisory services in all jurisdictions.
The specific objectives of the Advisory Services are to:
- provide specialist palliative care and advance care planning advice to aged care providers and GPs providing health care for recipients of aged care services;
- improve linkages between aged care services and palliative care services;
- improve the palliative care skills and advance care planning expertise of aged care service staff and GPs providing health care for recipients of aged care services; and
- improve the quality of care for aged care recipients, prevent unnecessary hospital admissions and shorten hospital stays.
The establishment of the Advisory Services will deliver the following outcomes:
- the empowerment of GPs and aged care providers with knowledge of palliative care and advance care planning relevant to their situation;
- the creation of links between aged care and palliative care; and
- the provision of advice about palliative care, advance care planning and advance care directive resources, processes, legislation and accountabilities in the state or territory in which the aged care provider or GP is located.
Funding
Up to $15 million (GST Exclusive) over three years (2017-18 to 2019-20) is available for the Specialist Palliative Care and Advance Care Planning Advisory Services (SPCACPAS) grant opportunity, with services commencing in July 2017.
Eligible Projects
The following activities are eligible to receive funding from SPCACPAS grant opportunity:
- delivery of specialist palliative care and advance care planning advisory services and training, using innovative models, for aged care providers and GPs providing health care for recipients of aged care services, which may be delivered by the successful Applicant or coordinated by a consortium of organisations;
- the services must be delivered Nationally, identifying the differing arrangements and processes in each state and territory;
- the advisory services must be provided, at a minimum, during business hours from Monday to Friday, 09:00 – 17:00 inclusive, in the time zone of the respective state or territory;
- the services should be delivered as a national project with a set of common branding and contact arrangements;
- the advisory services and training should complement and not duplicate or replace existing services and programs in each state and territory. Applicants should be aware of current palliative care service delivery frameworks in each state and territory and promote clear linkages between the advisory services and existing palliative care services and policy initiatives; and
- activities that promote collaboration and co-ordination across the palliative care, primary care and aged care sectors
The successful applicant will be required to be aware of, and coordinate project activities with, existing and future state and territory palliative care and advance care planning programs and existing Australian Government projects.
Innovative models of delivering advisory services and training are encouraged. The successful applicant will be aware of and build on the Decision Assist activities, ensuring that current evidence based practice is reflected in their proposed activities.
Eligible Applicants
Applications are encouraged from non-government and government entities other than the Commonwealth with the ability to deliver and coordinate the delivery of specialist palliative care and advance care planning advice to aged care providers including GPs. Since arrangements for the provision of palliative care, and legal and other processes affecting advance care planning, may vary between jurisdictions, applicants must demonstrate that they can deliver services, identifying the differing arrangements and processes, Nationally.
Only legal entities are eligible to apply for funding under this project. Applicants must ensure that they are eligible to enter into a legal Agreement with the Commonwealth before submitting their application.
To be eligible to receive a grant from SPCACPAS grant opportunity you must:
- be a legal entity, i.e. able to enter into a legally binding agreement, such as the following:
- a company incorporated in Australia;
- an incorporated trustee on behalf of a trust;
- an incorporated association;
- a partnership;
- a consortium, with a lead organisation
- a registered charity or not for profit organisation;
- an Australian local government body;
- an Australian state/territory government body; or
- an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Corporation registered under the Corporations (Aboriginal and /or Torres Strait Islander) Act 2006; and
- have an Australian Business Number (ABN);
- be registered for the purposes of GST; and
- have an Australian bank account.
Some organisations may apply as a consortium to deliver grant activities. If you are submitting a joint grant application or submitting on behalf of a consortia, a member organisation or a newly created organisation must be appointed as the ‘lead organisation’. Only the lead organisation will enter into a grant agreement with the Commonwealth, and will be responsible for the grant. The lead organisation must complete the application form and identify all other members of the proposed consortium in the application. The application must include a letter of support from each organisation involved in the grant. Each letter of support should include:
- an overview of how the consortium will work together to support the successful completion of the grant activity;
- an outline of the relevant experience and/or expertise of the consortium members;
- the roles/responsibilities the consortium members, and the resources they will contribute (if any);
- details of a nominated management level contact officer; and
- details of the lead organisation.
Timing
Applications close 4 April 2017.
More Information
- Source
