Telehealth must be available for VAD
A coalition of leading health organisations has joined Go Gentle Australia in calling on the Federal Government to urgently amend a law impacting Australians who choose voluntary assisted dying (VAD).
The Commonwealth Criminal Code’s restriction on how health professionals communicate about VAD is causing disruptions and delays in care for terminally ill Australians, says the Joint Statement: Electronic communications must be available for voluntary assisted dying.
The joint statement has been co-signed by 19 organisations including AMA Queensland, the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia and the Australian Federation of Nurses and Midwives.
"The prohibition of electronic communication for VAD care disadvantages people who are unable to travel for face-to-face consultations due to the complexity of their medical condition or because they live in a rural or remote area," the statement says.
"It should be for health professionals and their patients to decide if electronic communications are an appropriate alternative to in-person care."
The Commonwealth Criminal Code provisions were never intended to impact VAD but rather to restrict pro-suicide chatrooms and materials being distributed online.
However state VAD laws are caught up in the same prohibition - despite leading suicide prevention organisations including Lifeline, Beyond Blue and the Black Dog Institute releasing a joint statement clearly distinguishing VAD and suicide.
In practice, the prohibition means no conversations about the delivery or administration of the VAD substance can take place over telephone, video conference, email, fax or other forms of electronic communication.
Go Gentle CEO Dr Linda Swan said the unintended consequence was that terminally ill people choosing VAD had to attend all appointments in-person, or wait for a health professional to visit them at home.
"For VAD, in-person appointments are always preferred by clinicians," Dr Swan said.
"However, for terminally ill people who may be frail, suffering or living in remote areas, requiring in-person appointments for all parts of the VAD process is unreasonable.
"At worst, it can be the difference between accessing care and not."
Telehealth for VAD care is routinely used in New Zealand, the United States and Canada and all telehealth consults in Australia are covered by guidance from the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency.
"Telehealth should be available, when needed, to support all types of health care, including VAD," Dr Swan said.
"Health professionals, in consultation with the people they care for, are best placed to decide which communication methods are appropriate to deliver high quality care."
The statement, coordinated by Go Gentle, has been signed by the following organisations:
- Australian Association of Psychologists
- Consumers Health Forum of Australia
- Australian Medical Association QLD
- Pharmaceutical Society of Australia
- Public Health Association
- Society of Hospital Pharmacists Australia
- Voluntary Assisted Dying Australia & NZ
- Health Care Consumers
- Australian Medical Students’ Association
- Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre
- Australian Primary Health Care Nurses Association
- Australian Healthcare and Hospitals Association
- Older Persons Advocacy Network
- Clinical Oncology Society of Australia
- Australian College of Nurse Practitioners
- Australian Nursing & Midwifery Federation
- Australian Lawyers Alliance
- Australian Association of Social Workers
- Medical Oncology Group of Australia
The joint statement is included in Go Gentle’s landmark State of VAD Report, which compiles official data from all Australian jurisdictions to present a national snapshot of VAD; who is using the laws and what can be improved.
In May 2024, state, territory and federal branches of the Australian Medical Association (AMA) wrote to the Australian government to urge reform of the Commonwealth Criminal Code.
Read Dr Linda Swan’s op-ed for MJA Insight + Telehealth and voluntary assisted dying: leave it to the doctors
Read the State of VAD report