Quality Practice Series #9 (July 2024)

In this edition:

• Practitioner remuneration
• Service of Reflection
• Updated Approved Information and CEO Requirements
• Goldfields Board Meeting
• Voluntary Assisted Dying Training Renewal
• Births, Deaths and Marriages Data Matching
• Monitoring patient episodes in VAD-IMS
• VAD-IMS reminders

Message from the Voluntary Assisted Dying Board Chair

Voluntary assisted dying (VAD) has just passed its third year of operation and we continue to see an increase in VAD activity in addition to new situations. The Board has started preparing the 2023-2024 Annual Report to be presented to the Minister for Health later in the year.

The Statewide Care Navigator Service (SWCNS) recently hosted the inaugural Study Day for VAD practitioners in June 2024, attended by 50 medical and nurse practitioners, care navigators and pharmacists from metropolitan and regional areas. Practitioners attended sessions on a variety of topics including prognostication, organ donation and the psychology of VAD. The Board was pleased to be able to give an update on Board operations and host a networking event for attendees. Congratulations to Alice Morison and the SWCNS team for a valuable and well-received event. 

As always, the Board would like to express their gratitude for the time and effort of all practitioners, and we encourage you to reach out and share your experiences with us. You can do this through the submission of a personal reflection (that can be found here) or by emailing the VAD Board Secretariat Unit (VADBoard@health.wa.gov.au).

Dr Scott Blackwell
Chair - Voluntary Assisted Dying Board

Practitioner remuneration

Earlier this year the Department of Health approved a fee for service funding model to remunerate VAD practitioners.

Under this arrangement, VAD practitioners in non-salaried roles, can claim a fixed fee (for clinical and administrative time) for VAD services delivered from 1^st July 2024, with payments commencing in August 2024. To request payment practitioners will need an Australian Business Number (ABN), an Australian bank account, complete a Consent to use information form and supply a tax invoice.

Once the Consent to use information has been returned, each month the Department of Health will send practitioners a service fee estimate and details of the information they need to provide.

At the end of June 2024, the End-of-Life Care Program Team sent correspondence to VAD practitioners, providing information about how to claim payment. If you did not receive this correspondence or need more information, please email EOLCP.AP@health.wa.gov.au

The WA Voluntary Assisted Dying Practitioner Fee for Service Payment Guidelines can be downloaded from the VAD-IMS Resource Hub.

Service of Reflection

Practitioners are invited to attend the 2024 Service of Reflection on Friday 26 July to mark the third year of voluntary assisted dying as an end of life choice. Please feel free to pass the invitation on to patients, families, carers and other healthcare workers.

Updated Approved Information and CEO Requirements

The Approved Information for patients has now been updated and can be downloaded from the Department of Health website.

The CEO practitioner eligibility requirements have also been updated and no longer require a practitioner to have twice the minimum hours per registration period required by the relevant Recency of Practice Standard. The new CEO requirements can be downloaded here. 

Goldfields Board meeting

The Board will travel to Kalgoorlie in August 2024 to meet with local practitioners and gain a better understanding of how VAD is operating in the Goldfields region.

The Board will host a practitioner information session, open to all practitioners and health workers in the region on Thursday 22nd August 6pm at The Plaza Hotel, Kalgoorlie.

Please feel free to share this invitation with your networks who might be interested in learning more about voluntary assisted dying. 

RSVP to the event

Our regional engagement activities assist us in fulfilling our function under the Act to monitor the operation of VAD in WA, and to hear from local patients and practitioners about the successes and challenges of VAD in the region. The Board is planning a regional meeting in the South-West in 2025 and looks forward to engaging with practitioners and community in that region.

VAD Training Renewal

Many practitioners who became active VAD practitioners in 2021 are now approaching the time for renewal of the WA VAD Approved Training.

To maintain eligibility, practitioners will need to complete additional training prior to their expiry date. Practitioners who have undertaken a role designated by the Act can complete the WA VAD Approved Training renewal module. This condensed format module will take around 90 minutes to complete.

The Department of Health will contact practitioners 3 months prior to training expiry with instructions on how to access the renewal training.

Please note it may take up to 2 business days from completion of training for your renewal to be processed in VAD-IMS.

If you do not intend to renew your training and have active patients in VAD-IMS, please let us know at VADBoard@health.wa.gov.au and we can provide advice on the process for transferring patients to a new practitioner.

Births, Deaths and Marriages Data Matching

The Voluntary Assisted Dying Board recently commenced a project of quarterly data matching between VAD-IMS and the Registry of Deaths. The Board is aware that practitioners may not always be informed when a patient has died and it is hoped the matching process will assist practitioners in managing patients and episodes in VAD-IMS. Coordinating Practitioners will be notified where a match is found and will be requested to submit a Notification of Death form as required by the Act. The matching process will occur quarterly. 

Monitoring patient episodes in VAD-IMS

The Board has a function under the Act to monitor operations of Voluntary Assisted Dying. The Secretariat Unit undertakes real time monitoring of submissions in VAD-IMS to ensure compliance with the Act and good data health.

From July 2024 the Board is implementing improved functionality to support the Secretariat Unit in undertaking this work. As a result, practitioners may be contacted by the Secretariat Unit to confirm the accuracy of information in VAD-IMS.

If you are contacted and have concerns, please reach out to the Secretariat Unit at VADBoard@health.wa.gov.au who are happy to assist.

VAD-IMS reminders

The Secretariat Unit continues to monitor and support practitioners with submitting the required notifications to the Board through VAD-IMS. Some common issues to look out for include:

• If you are planning a holiday, please remember to consider options for any patients who may require further voluntary assisted dying steps to be completed while you are away. This might include transferring roles before you leave or ensuring you have access to VAD-IMS and the ability to submit approved forms while away. It might also be advisable to take some blank forms with you, which can be completed and faxed or emailed to us.
• For VAD-IMS to automatically match a consultation referral to a patient episode the form must include the patient's VAD ID, name and date of birth. If these three elements do not match exactly, the Consultation Referral will need to be manually linked to the patient episode by the Secretariat Unit. Whilst the Secretariat Unit endeavours to do this as quickly as possible we are only staffed during business hours, Monday to Friday. The Consulting Practitioner will not be able to submit their assessment form until the referral is linked to the patient.