Doctors are VIPs in accessing VAD services

South Australia’s law to provide access to voluntary assisted dying came into effect on 31 January.

VAD Review Board Presiding Member Associate Professor Melanie Turner reports on progress.

Now that the legislation has come into effect, how are things going?

Overall, people in the South Australian community are actively accessing information on voluntary assisted dying (VAD) and we are seeing enquiries and requests for information being made through the Care Navigator Service and the Local Health Network Liaison Nurses. People have also been making their first request to their doctor and commencing the formal process through the VAD Clinical Portal.

It has also been rewarding to see the hard work of the VAD Implementation Taskforce, chaired by Dr Chris Moy, come to fruition as well as the ongoing dedication of the VAD teams. The Review Board has a lot of confidence that the first month of operations has been safe, accessible and compassionate. How many doctors are participating in VAD?

We continue to see more doctors registering in the VAD Clinical Portal every day, as well as receiving contact from clinicians enquiring about training. We continue to encourage any doctors with an interest in VAD or who believe they may in the future provide access for their patients, to register online so we can notify them of online training and future face-to-face training dates and keep them informed. We have conducted face-to-face training as an alternative to the online training and having both options provides a more flexible approach to meet doctors’ availability. As of the end of February 2023, we had 86 doctors registered in the VAD Clinical Portal and 40 fully trained.

How many people have requested access to VAD in South Australia?

In the first month of VAD being operational in South Australia, 20 people made a first request to commence the process to access the pathway, and six permits were issued by SA Health Chief Executive Dr Robyn Lawrence.

Permits issued is not an indication of the number of people who have administered the medication. Experience from other states indicates simply having access to the choice can provide comfort and reduce a person’s suffering.

The VAD legislation contains strict confidentiality provisions which prevent the disclosure of information except under certain circumstances. To protect the privacy of the people accessing VAD, the VAD Review Board will not provide data until it is sufficiently large so that there is no risk that a person might be identified through this disclosure. Has there been feedback from patients and families?

The Review Board has already been made aware of some lovely feedback provided by patients and families that demonstrates the compassionate approach taken by the staff supporting VAD. In particular, we have heard that the Care Navigators and Local Health Network Liaisons are highly regarded and have been respectful, thoughtful and gone above and beyond to assist patients.

How can people provide feedback on their experience?

We really welcome feedback to support the VAD Review Board to undertake its role in continuous improvement for VAD. Feedback provided directly to the relevant service by patient, families and by doctors is valuable in helping us to put a human face to the data we receive. The Review Board has also published a ‘personal reflection’ form that we encourage patients, families and doctors to complete. The more feedback we receive from people involved in VAD at any stage, the better we can review and inform changes to the VAD process and future legislation. The form is available on the SA Health website at

Personal+reflection+form+V3_fillable+(1). pdf (sahealth.sa.gov.au)

What support is there for doctors?

Doctors play such a crucial role in assessing eligibility and facilitating access to VAD and we continue to look at ways to provide information and support to practitioners. We continue to offer both online and face to face training to support doctors to be registered and eligible to support VAD.

The VAD Clinical Portal has been working well to facilitate the mandatory submission of forms and the permit application process. The Care Navigators and LHN Liaison Nurses have been providing coordination and patient support to assist doctors in facilitating each step of the pathway.

Finally, an expression of interest has been distributed to trained practitioners to invite them to participate in a VAD Community of Practice, which will provide a peer support network for doctors in a safe and collegiate environment. Interstate, many practitioners have found a community of practice to be a highly valuable and supportive group to be a part of.

Any final words?

The Review Board is committed to continuous improvement of safe and compassionate access to VAD. We are grateful to all of those who came before us to deliver this legislation and we will continue to ensure a high-quality VAD service to all South Australians. We will continue to monitor trends in the data to identify barriers to access and support doctors to maximise their ability to participate and support our community.