Why Our Palliative Care Promises Are Dying On The Vine

The silence from the top

In my years as a GP, I never saw a patient cured by red tape. Yet, day after day, we see a health system that prefers bureaucracy over the wellbeing of those at their most vulnerable. Recently, in the Legislative Council, we addressed a motion regarding the state of palliative care in Western Australia. It is a topic that touches every single one of us: the dignity, comfort, and care we receive when approaching the end of life.

We have evidence, we have research, and we have clear, professional recommendations. Yet, the government continues to ignore the very path it once promised to follow. This is not just administrative delay: it is a waiting room where patients face preventable suffering because the support they were promised simply has not arrived.

The risk is visceral. When we fail to implement evidence-based palliative care, we force patients into emergency departments instead of the comfort of their own homes. We are failing our regional communities and our youth, and we are ignoring the clear clinical data that shows how better care improves outcomes for the entire family. If you want to stay updated on our fight for a more compassionate and evidence-based health system, I invite you to subscribe to my YouTube channel for regular updates from the front lines of Parliament.

The human cost of broken promises

Palliative care is not merely about managing pain. It is about humanity. It is about supporting a person through the psychosocial and spiritual dimensions of their final chapter. When I look at the 2020 report from the Joint Select Committee, I see 25 recommendations that the government supported in principle. Then, I see the reality: a total failure to monitor the progress of those commitments. This was a deliberate choice to leave us in the dark.

We know that home-based care saves lives and resources, yet we see patients caught in a system that restricts eligibility based on arbitrary timelines. We have elderly citizens and those under 65 trapped in a fragmented system that provides little comfort to their loved ones. It is a failure of oversight that borders on negligence.

A path forward

The evidence is clear. The government ignored it. We are calling for an urgent, transparent report to account for every single one of those 24 recommendations that remain in limbo. We need to know why our system remains so fragmented and why the promise of dignified end-of-life care is being denied to so many. You can review the full parliamentary proceedings here to see exactly where the government stands on this critical issue.

We are fighting for a system that values the person above the paperwork. If you are a forward-thinker who believes in data-driven policy and true compassion, join our movement. We are building a future where health, dignity, and common sense prevail. Stand with us by signing up at Legalise Cannabis WA today.