From the CEO

Welcome to the Winter Pallium for 2023! We hope this edition finds you well as we move into the second half of the year, though we would like to acknowledge the difficulties caused as COVID-19 and influenza continue to spread during the winter months. We would like to thank our members and the wider healthcare community for their perseverance during these difficult times, and please know you have our ongoing support.

I was invited to meet with our Patron Her Excellency the Honourable Margaret Beazley AC KC, Governor of New South Wales, with our President Felicity Burns and Vice President Therese Smeal. We were delighted to discuss the importance of Palliative Care and opportunities for growth under her Patronage, and we look forward to welcoming her to coming events.

The staff at PCNSW continue working to support and advocate for our members and the community. The new staff members have settled in well and we are pleased to have them on the team. The new Palliative Care Service Guide role has proven extremely successful, and Dr Peta McVey has been able to assist many of our members and members of the public with their questions and concerns. We are extremely pleased to be able to provide our members and the wider community with an added layer of support and assistance through this role, and we are ready to receive many more calls and queries in the future!

We were delighted to be able to celebrate National Palliative Care

Week in person with our members in May. PCNSW street banners were hung in the Sydney CBD in support of NPCW, highlighting the People at the Heart of Palliative Care in line with the week’s theme. I attended the national launch of NPCW in Canberra with Felicity Burns, which was hosted by Palliative Care Australia. PCNSW held a screening of Live the Life You Please as the NSW launch of NPCW, and we held our annual Education Day at the Waterfront Function Centre in Sans Souci. It was lovely to be able to connect with our members at these events, and provide the opportunity to explore the Education Day topics in depth with other healthcare workers. We look forward to seeing you at the next one!

During 2023 we have also been conducting a scoping study on Homelessness and Palliative Care in Regional, Rural and Remote NSW. We would like to thank all the healthcare workers who participated in interviews for the study. The information you provided us with is invaluable, and we appreciate the time you dedicated to providing us with your experiences. We were also pleased to hear from healthcare workers in a range of different LHDs, as we feel it is important to represent the different perspectives from each location. The study is expected to be published in July, and you can read more about it in this edition of Pallium.

It is important to note the current discussion on the introduction of the Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill in NSW, which will come into effect on 28th November 2023. We know that there will be a lot of changes resulting from the Bill, and we hear your thoughts and concerns on the matter. Please know that we will continue working to support our members during these significant times of change, and advocating for you as best as we can. We encourage our members to continue contacting us with your thoughts and concerns so we can represent your needs accordingly.

I am very sad to say that this will be my last word as CEO for PCNSW’s Pallium. What a terrific journey this has been with you over these past 19 years at PCNSW. It has been an honour and a privilege to work at PCNSW for so many years, alongside an exceptional team and dedicated Management Committee. I am exceptionally proud of what we have accomplished with our members, and I am confident that the strategic vision of PCNSW will continue to progress far into the future. I am excited to be taking on the role of CEO in ACT, and I wish PCNSW and its members all the best.

Linda Hansen PCNSW Chief Executive Officer