Palliative Care Tasmania’s closure would be a blow to the aged services and palliative care sectors, Aged and Community Services Tasmania chief executive Darren Mathewson says.
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Mr Mathewson said PTC’s closure would leave a “sizeable gap”.
Palliative Care Tasmania general manager Colleen Johnstone said PCT would be forced to disband if they did not acquire urgent funding. She said PCT were forced to lose five staff members over the last year and were left with four with reduced hours.
“We have no funding from the federal government left,” Ms Johnstone said.
PCT are currently working on two short-term projects which are funded through the DHHS. Ms Johnstone said PCT had lobbied the “silent” federal government for a funding commitment or bridging funding. She said PCT had provided free education to 13,000 Tasmanians over the last 18 months.
A Federal Department of Health spokeswoman said PCT was funded as part of the Better Access to Palliative Care program from June 2012. Funding to PCT ended on September 30.
The spokeswoman said a Commonwealth-funded independent evaluation into the BAPC was due for completion in December, and it “may help inform future policy and palliative care funding decisions”.