TERMINALLY ill patients will be able to get information on euthanasia from a 24-hour Victorian state government-sponsored hotline.
The $6 million palliative care support line will also provide help and advice on end of-life care.
But a government tender document reveals the winning provider must be willing to provide information on the assisted dying scheme.
The government wants the hotline — staffed by doctors and nurses — to begin after euthanasia becomes legal in Victoria next June. It is expecting 45,000 callers in its first year.
Palliative Care Victoria chief executive Odette Waanders said it was important the advice line didn’t create confusion between assisted dying and palliative care. She slammed the Labor government’s record of palliative care funding, and said an advice line did little to address the gap.
A Department of Health and Human Services spokesman said the hotline would be a reliable 24-hour source for end-of-life information. He said it would provide advice on voluntary assisted dying only when prompted by the caller.
Source
The Herald Sun Digital Edition: Dial in for help to die at home
JAMES DOWLING | Sunday 4th November 2018
