More doctors needed to bolster Vic VAD workforce
The latest voluntary assisted dying report from Victoria shows 371 people have died in the past year, an increase of 22 percent.
The Voluntary Assisted Dying Review Board in Victoria has tabled its latest annual report in parliament.
Between 1 July 2023 and 30 June 2024, the Board received 768 voluntary assisted dying (VAD) applications with 371 people proceeding to an assisted death.
There were 180 applicants who died before being issued a permit, highlighting the ongoing pattern of patients beginning the application process late in the course of their illness.
VAD deaths represented 0.84 per cent of all deaths in Victoria, an increase on the previous 12 months however the report noted this percentage is lower than in most other states.
The proportion of VAD deaths that involve practitioner administration was 19 per cent, also significantly lower than in most other states.
“This reflects the Victorian legislation which requires an applicant be unable to self-administer a substance to be eligible for practitioner administration, versus the right for an applicant to have an element of administration preference in some other jurisdictions,’’ noted Board Chair Julian Gardner.
Mr Gardner expressed concern about the sustainability of the program because of a shortage of VAD practitioners.
“We are concerned about the ongoing sustainability of the program given that the data shows there are only seven medical practitioners trained to provide voluntary assisted dying per 100,000 adults in Victoria,’’ he noted.
Rural applicants made up more than a third of VAD applicants, despite comprising less than a quarter of the Victorian population,
The statistics
Between 1 July 2023 and 30 June 2024:
- 371 people died via VAD
- 486 self-administration permits and 111 practitioner-administration permits were issued
- 180 people with VAD permits died before taking the substance
- The median time frame from first to last request is 14 days, and from first request to dispensing of the substance is 28 days.
- 822 medical practitioners have registered for the training (as of 30 June 2024) with 394 completing the training and registering in the portal
- 59% of active VAD practitioners live in metropolitan Melbourne and 41% in regional Victoria.
The Board highlighted a number of areas for improvement, including reform of the Commonwealth Criminal Code to allow telehealth appointments.
“As the Board has highlighted since the commencement of the Act, the existing Commonwealth law creates barriers to accessing care and, in some cases, creates situations resulting in unreasonable travel demands on medical practitioners and people suffering from life-limiting medical conditions,’’ the report said.
The Board also raised the issues of institutional objection, and the need to better communicate VAD to the public.
Read the full report here.