Distribution of palliative care-related hospitalisations

In 2022–23, there were 12.1 million hospitalisations across Australia, of which 101,000 were palliative care-related hospitalisations:

  • More than half of these hospitalisations (54% or 54,100) were primary palliative care hospitalisations, while 46,800 (46%) were other palliative care hospitalisations – equating to 21 primary palliative care hospitalisations per 10,000 population and 18 other palliative care hospitalisations per 10,000 population, respectively (Table 1).
  • Most of these hospitalisations were recorded in public hospitals (85%), a higher proportion than that recorded for all hospitalisations (59%; Table 2).

In 2022–23, among the 101,000 palliative care-related hospitalisations (Figure 1 and Table 1):

  • Over half (53%) were provided to males – a different pattern to that for all hospitalisations where more than half (52%) were for females.
  • 3 in 5 (60%) were for people aged 75 and over and less than 1 in 10 (8.3%) were for people aged under 55.
  • The average age at admission was 75 years, which was considerably older than for hospitalisations for all reasons (56 years). 
  • 2,800 were for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (First Nations) people. Most of these hospitalisations occurred in public hospitals (95%) – a higher proportion than for all hospitalisations for First Nations people (85%; Table 2). 
  • The rate of palliative care-related hospitalisations was higher for people living in the lower socioeconomic areas than in the higher socioeconomic areas overall and it varied across socioeconomic areas in public and private hospitals:
    • in public hospitals, the rate for people living in the lowest socioeconomic areas was almost twice as high as those living in the highest socioeconomic areas (44 compared with 24 hospitalisations per 10,000 population, respectively) 
    • conversely in private hospitals, the rate for people living in the highest socioeconomic areas was 2.5 times as high as those living in the lowest socioeconomic areas (8.9 compared with 3.5 hospitalisations per 10,000 population, respectively)
    • these patterns were consistent with hospitalisations for all reasons – when the level of disadvantage increased, hospitalisation rates in public hospitals generally increased, while hospitalisation rates in private hospitals decreased (Table 3).

Figure 1: Distribution of palliative care-related hospitalisations, by demographic characteristics, 2022–23

Figure 1: This dashboard presents distribution of primary and other palliative care hospitalisations by selected demographic characteristics in 2022–23.

Variation across geographical areas

The rates of palliative care-related hospitalisations varied across remoteness areas in public and private hospitals (Figure 1):

  • In public hospitals, the rates of primary palliative care hospitalisations for people living in Inner regional and Outer regional areas were higher than Major cities and Remote and very remote areas (23–24 vs 15–16 per 10,000 population). The rate of other palliative care hospitalisations increased with increasing remoteness, consistent with the pattern for hospitalisations for all reasons. 
  • In private hospitals, the rate of palliative care-related hospitalisations decreased with increasing remoteness, consistent with the pattern for hospitalisations for all reasons.

The rate of palliative care-related hospitalisations also varied across the states and territories, with public hospitals ranging from 23 hospitalisations per 10,000 population in Western Australia to 47 hospitalisations per 10,000 population in Tasmania (Figure 1). Note that there is variation among states and territories in admission policies, practices and the types of services provided to admitted patients through hospitals (AIHW 2017).

Across the Primary Health Networks (PHN) areas (Figure 2):

  • The rate of palliative care-related hospitalisations ranged from 27 hospitalisations per 10,000 population in Western Australian Perth North PHN area to 59 hospitalisations per 10,000 population in New South Wales Murrumbidgee PHN area. 
  • For hospitalisations for all reasons, people living in Northern Territory PHN area had the highest rate (7,800 per 10,000 population), while people living in New South Wales Western Sydney PHN area had the lowest rate (3,300 per 10,000 population).

Note that hospital services may be organised differently across the PHN areas due to variations in the scope of hospitals across jurisdictions (AIHW 2023).

Figure 2: Palliative care-related hospitalisations, by Primary Health Networks (PHNs) areas, 2022–23

Figure 2: This map shows data on palliative care-related hospitalisations and all hospitalisations across Australia's 31 Primary Health Networks in 2022–23. 

References

AIHW (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare) (2017) Variation in hospital admission policies and practices: Australian hospital statistics, AIHW, Australian Government, accessed 10 July 2024.

AIHW (2023) Admitted patient care NBEDS 2022–23, AIHW, Australian Government, accessed 12 July 2024.

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