VAD Policy Statement

In order to comply with the Voluntary Assisted Dying Act 2021 and the Private entity obligations the following is the Laura Johnson Home Voluntary Assisted Dying Policy Statement. 

From 1 January 2023 access to a Voluntary Assisted Dying substance is available to people in Queensland who meet strict eligibility criteria. Under the Voluntary Assisted Dying Act 2021 (VAD) (Queensland), entities in Queensland can choose whether or not to provide Voluntary Assisted Dying services, with the understanding that there are obligations under the Act in relation to providing a person with access to information and independent practitioners.

Due to a number of factors the Laura Johnson Home cannot facilitate treatments or action within the Laura Johnson Residential Aged Care Home.

While the Laura Johnson Home does not directly provide Voluntary Assisted Dying as a service at our home, we uphold the rights of people to access information and connect them to the appropriate information services. 

The Laura Johnson Home will adopt the following principles to assist our residents, families and staff. 

Guiding Principles

  • Laura Johnson Home will  ensure that it has the resources and capability to deliver or access  quality, respectful and compassionate Palliative Care and End of Life Care, supporting each person  to live and value each day to the maximum extent possible, or will facilitate referral to these services as appropriate.
  • Laura Johnson Home will ensure that the people we support are made aware of the Laura Johnson Home’s position on VAD, that is the Laura Johnson Home will not be participating in VAD. Should the people we support request information on VAD they will be provided with written information on end-of-life and palliative care services that the Laura Johnson Home is able to make available and contact details for Q-VAD.  Contact information for specific VAD services will not be included.
  • The Laura Johnson Home will ensure that appropriate structures are in place to provide pathways and support for our Residents and the people we support.
  • The Laura Johnson Home will ensure that trained representatives, such as GP’s and Palliative Care Specialists  are available to engage in end-of-life discussions and that processes are in place to respond to the results of these discussions.
  • The Laura Johnson Home will publish our Policy Statement on its website stating clearly that its position is not to participate in or facilitate Voluntary Assisted Dying services within the Laura Johnson Home. 
  • The Laura Johnson Home will ensure that the Board, Management and Staff are aware of our position on VAD and the requirements. 

This specifically requires that:

  • The Laura Johnson Management and Staff will not initiate discussions about Voluntary Assisted Dying with the people we support.
  • If asked about VAD our Management and Staff will advise the person we support of the Laura Johnson Home’s position in relation to VAD and then will escalate the request to an appropriately trained representative.

DEFINITIONS

In this policy statement, the following words have the following meanings:

People we support or person we support:

all residents and families who access support from the Laura Johnson Home

Palliative Care:

an approach that seeks to improve the quality of life of our residents (and their families) who are facing difficulties with life-threatening illness through the prevention and relief of suffering (whether this suffering is physical, psychological and/or spiritual) by means of early identification, assessment and treatment of pain and other difficulties.

End of Life Care:

includes physical, spiritual and psychosocial assessment, care and treatment delivered by health professionals and GP’s and external professionals such as Specialist Palliative Care Rural Telehealth (SParTA) and support for families and carers, and care of the persons’ body after their death.

Voluntary Assisted Dying:

the administration of a voluntary assisted dying substance and includes steps reasonably related to that administration.

Voluntary Assisted Dying Substance:

a substance approved by the Chief Executive under section 160 of the Act. (Note: under section 160 of the Act the Chief Executive may approve an S4 substance or S8 substance, or a combination of those substances, for use under this Act for the purpose of causing a person’s death.)