Navigating complex legal, ethical, and emotional decision making while supporting patients with end-of-life care can be challenging. Recent End of Life Law for Clinicians (ELLC) workshops in Kalgoorlie and Karratha brought together clinicians, educators, and health system leaders to explore the legal components of end-of-life decision-making in clinical practice. This training aims to boost confidence and improve decision-making at the end of life, ultimately enhancing patient care.
A collaborative initiative between WA Primary Health Alliance, ELLC at the Australian Centre for Health Law Research, Queensland University of Technology, and the Goldfields and Pilbara Health Professionals Networks, the workshops fostered community connection, professional development, and system-wide collaboration, and provided clinicians with practical guidance on:
- capacity and consent to medical treatment
- withholding and withdrawing life-sustaining treatment
- substitute decision-making
- futile and non-beneficial treatment
- voluntary assisted dying
- providing pain and symptom relief.
“The workshops provide critical legal knowledge and skills to support clinicians to confidently deliver end of life and palliative care. It was a pleasure to engage with local doctors, nurses and students, and to see their enthusiasm for providing high-quality end of life care in regional WA.” Penny Neller, ELLC Project Manager
Recognising the unique challenges faced by regional clinicians, the workshops offered flexible formats, including hybrid evening sessions for remote solo GPs and interactive, case-based discussions for medical students. In Kalgoorlie, the Rural Clinical School hosted an afternoon workshop for 12 penultimate-year medical students. Later that evening, a hybrid session at Curtin University Kalgoorlie enabled remote and local participation for 15 clinicians and health care professionals.
The workshop series then extended to Karratha with an evening hybrid workshop at the Rural Clinical School, co-presented with the Pilbara WACHS Palliative care team, bringing together 12 clinicians from across the region.
Free training and professional development
ELLC offers free online training modules on end-of-life decision-making law for all health professionals. The modules are RACGP-approved for 12 CPD hours and accredited in the ACRRM PD Program for 9 Educational Activity hours and 3 Performance Review hours.
