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Palliative Care Outcomes Collaboration

About PCOC

PCOC, funded by the Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care, aims to improve palliative care outcomes. It operates from the Australasian Health Outcomes Consortium (AHOC) at the University of Wollongong (UOW) and is a collaboration between UOW, Queensland University of Technology (QUT), and the University of Western Australia (UWA).

About PCOC

The ultimate measure of quality is the outcomes that patients, their families and carers achieve. PCOC is a voluntary program that is improving the quality and outcomes in palliative care in Australia, and internationally.

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There are many ways we know we are providing good care. We can measure our processes and display our thank you letters. But how do we know we are improving patient care? Show we do what we say we do. We focus on patient outcomes. The Australian Palliative Care Outcomes Collaboration, or PCOC, is the only source of routine palliative care outcome data in Australia and provides the facts about the effect of palliative care. The ultimate measure of quality is the outcomes that our patients and their families and carers achieve.

PCOC is a national voluntary program that is improving the quality and outcomes of palliative care in Australia by producing information to be used by clinicians and by local state and national providers of palliative care, to continually improve care for patients and their families.

PCOC measures outcomes for pain, including physical symptoms, psychological and spiritual needs, as well as family and carer outcomes. This provides evidence to mojito and prove the outcomes of care and drive continuous improvement in palliative care.

How does PCOC work? Let’s look at the six-monthly PCOC cycle. First, clinicians use the assessment tools to assess and respond to each patient’s needs. Then, PCOC reports the assessment data back to you. Benchmarking takes place so you can compare results. Then, PCOC facilitates feedback methods that identify achievements and areas for change. Feedback is an essential part of improvement. And then you start the PCOC cycle again.

PCOC is the world’s largest national routine point-of-care data collection for quality improvement, representing more than 80 per cent of all palliative care patients referred to specialist services in Australia, or 40,000 people each year, measuring outcomes for people as they move between home and hospital.

Does PCOC work? National results show statistically significant improvements over time in all symptom domains and in key palliative care problem domains. PCOC embeds and sustains two key frameworks into routine procedure and practice; the PCOC assessment framework and the quality improvement and change framework. The benefits of the assessment framework include; standard assessment and a common language when planning care or handing over in any care setting, baseline assessment and snapshot of patient needs, the ability to track and respond to patient symptoms, patients and their families and carers are part of the decision making, and care is driven by need. The benefits of the quality improvement and change framework include providing a structure for; evidence for the care being provided, outcomes triggering a review of processes, identifying areas for targeted quality improvement, identifying priorities for clinical and systems management change, and service planning. PCOC also helps with meeting requirements for accreditation by providing evidence of participation in quality improvement, and assists with local, state and national research on patient outcomes.

By firmly embedding a culture of quality improvement through the PCOC program, your service can measure and improve the care it provides, resulting in a better patient and family and carer experience and improved outcomes of care.

What is PCOC?

PCOC is a national palliative care project funded by the Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care. The PCOC project is based at the University of Wollongong.

What does PCOC do?

PCOC collects and analyses information from palliative care services across Australia about palliative care outcomes. PCOC analyses this information and sends reports to services every six months.

This information helps palliative care services to better understand if the care they provide is effective and appropriate to the needs of patients and their families and carers.

Organisations and researchers can also use PCOC information and reports to study palliative care outcomes. In this situation the researchers and organisations must follow strict criteria, including protecting the privacy of patients.

What does PCOC provide for members?

Services who are members of PCOC submit a prescribed data set against every episode of palliative care in their service. PCOC members have access to online, face-to-face, and virtual support through every stage:

Implementation:

PCOC provide guidance, resources, and support to assist with the integration of PCOC into the Organisation’s routine processes and practices (including for accreditation and quality improvement).

Collection:

PCOC provides free purpose-built online portals, which enables data-submitting members to:

  • Record their PCOC assessment data (for organisations without a compliant IT system)
  • Securely submit their own data
  • Access a summary of the submitted data to ensure their submitted data is complete
  • Access data quality report of their data to see where there are errors that need correcting

Analysis and Reporting:

PCOC provides service based six-monthly suite of benchmark reports including dashboard, outcome report, data summary and supplementary data. These provide analyses comparing the service’s data with National data from all other participating services.

Support for Education and Quality Improvement:

  • Access to PCOC improvement facilitators who can provide support on data collection processes, report interpretation and quality improvement initiatives
  • Education to relevant staff on the PCOC assessment and response framework, utilising the five PCOC assessment tools, and on understanding PCOC reports for quality improvement purposes
  • Communities of Practice as opportunities for networking and benchmarking to enable discussion, understanding, and use of PCOC data (reports) for driving quality improvement in patient outcomes.
  • Individual service meetings, run by PCOC improvement facilitators, provide an opportunity for services to discuss their data and outcomes with PCOC and identify target areas for quality improvement initiatives.

What about my privacy?

We respect and protect your privacy. We store all information on a secure database hosted at the University of Wollongong. The names and addresses of patients are not included in the information that palliative care services send to PCOC, or in PCOC reports or research.

You can contact pcoc@uow.edu.au if you do not want your information included in PCOC research.

For more information, talk to your nurse or doctor or email the PCOC team using the above address.

 

To become a PCOC member or submit an enquiry, please contact pcoc@uow.edu.au.

 

PCOC team

PCOC is a collaboration between three universities and participating services. 

Professor Kirsten Auret joined the PCOC program as PCOC's Chief Investigator for WA, NT and SA in February 2021. Professor Auret is a palliative care and general physician with an academic appointment in the Rural Clinical School in the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Western Australia. Her research interests cover advance care planning and palliative care especially in rural areas and has collaborations and publications with Australian and international universities.

Distinguished Professor Yates is a PCOC Chief Investigator and holds an Honorary Professorial Fellow appointment with the University of Wollongong. Distinguished Professor Yates (PhD, RN, FACN, FAAN) is jointly appointed as Executive Dean, Faculty of Health at Queensland University of Technology, Lead Researcher for the Cancer Nursing Professorial Precinct at Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital, and Director for Queensland Health’s statewide Centre for Palliative Care Research and Education (CPCRE). Distinguished Professor Yates has over 30 years of experience in research, education and clinical practice in cancer and palliative care. Distinguished Professor Yates is a past-President of PCA and is President of the International Society of Nurses in Cancer Care. In the 2020 Queen's Birthday List, she was honoured with a Member (AM) in the General Division of the Order of Australia.

Professor Katherine Clark (MBBS MMed (pain) PhD FRACP, FAChPM) is PCOC’s National Clinical Director and a palliative care physician who has worked as a clinician, manager, teacher and researcher in palliative care. Professor Clark is the inaugural Clinical Director for Palliative Care (Northern Sydney Local Health District Cancer and Palliative Care Network (NSLHD). She accepted this position as part of NSLHD’s commitment to developing palliative care services with the aim of ensuring all residents of northern Sydney have reliable access to evidence based palliative care based on their clinical needs.

Sabina Clapham is the Quality and Education manager for the Australian Palliative Care Outcomes Collaboration (PCOC) for the Australasian Health Outcomes Consortium (AHOC) at the University of Wollongong. Since first joining PCOC in 2007, Sabina has been instrumental in developing and embedding the programs assessment and response framework into clinical practice across the country. The information collected by this framework, which includes routine patient reported outcome measures, forms the basis of the data collection for the outcome measurement and benchmarking processes of PCOC.

Sabina is a Registered Nurse with a Masters in Nursing and Certificate IV in Training and Assessment. Sabina has worked in aged care, acute care and palliative care in various clinical, education, quality and project management positions. In her current position, Sabina ensures the implementation and sustainability of the PCOC program and leads clinical practice changes within PCOC services.

P: (02) 4239 2372
E: sabinac@uow.edu.au

Stacey has qualifications in psychology and palliative care. She has worked previously in a regional palliative care team as the psychosocial support coordinator and various community health roles. More recently Stacey was the Healthy Ageing and Palliative Care Manager with Murrumbidgee Primary Health Network, where she developed a PCOC model of care for general practice, in collaboration with the PCOC team. Stacey joined the PCOC team as the National Education Lead in 2023. Stacey is particularly interested in improving access to timely, quality palliative care for all Australians.

P: (02) 4239 4632
E: sheer@uow.edu.au

 

Anna has qualifications in biomedical science and public health. She has worked previously in research and program management with a focus on health system development in developing contexts, including research for the Asia Pacific Observatory for Health Systems and Policies and the Health Information Systems Knowledge Hub.  This work has focused on the evaluation of health systems and the strengthening of information systems to enable the effective collection and use of data to inform policy and practice. Anna has research interests in areas including:  policy development, infectious disease, sexual and reproductive health, disability and rehabilitation. She has also worked as a monitor of clinical pharmaceutical trials and in health promotion. 

P: (07) 3138 6122
E: anna.mcpherson@qut.edu.au 

Catriona is a social worker and restorative practitioner with project lead experience in healthcare implementing restorative approaches in a mental health setting, in addition to social work experience supporting palliative care in inpatient setting. Catriona has a background in supporting individuals and families in a variety of NGO and statutory settings here in Qld since 2007, and prior in the UK,  including areas of justice, communities, disability, and mental health.  Catriona has a BA (Hons) Criminology, Masters of Social Work, and more recently a Grad Cert in Healthcare Innovation, which enhanced her QI skills in supporting sustainable change in healthcare teams and the importance of context assessment. Catriona recently joined PCOC in 2024 to further explore her interest in palliative care and culture change.

P: (07) 3138 0673
M: 0421 255 570
E: c2.harwood@qut.edu.au

Kylie joined the Australasian Health Outcomes Consortium (AHOC), specifically the PCOC team, in April 2023.  Kylie has worked in the palliative care sector for 32 years and developed extensive skills and knowledge in this space.  Kylie has a Bachelor of Nursing, Graduate Diploma in Palliative care, Diploma in Dementia Care, Graduate Certificate in Consumer and Community engagement and is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (GAICD). Kylie started her career as a palliative care nurse at Caritas Christi Hospice in Melbourne and then moved into the community and worked with Eastern palliative care (EPC) for 24 years. Kylie was the Manager of Nursing and Medical services at EPC for most of this time and part of the senior management team. Kylie is a committee member of the Palliative Care Nurses Australia (PCNA).

P: (02) 4239 2043
E: kdraper@uow.edu.au

Anita is a Registered Nurse with 14 years of experience in clinical practice and healthcare project management. She is passionate about quality improvement and has successfully implemented numerous projects focused on integrated care, equitable community healthcare, and pressure injury prevention. Anita's strong interest in data analysis has led her team to publish an observational research paper, and her decade-long tenure as an Academic at Western Sydney University's School of Nursing and Midwifery has been instrumental in nurturing the curiosity and growth of countless students. Complementing her extensive experience, Anita holds a Master's in Nursing (Critical Care and Education) and a Certificate IV in Training and Assessment. Recognised for her approachability and engaging facilitation methods, she has shared her expertise at multiple conferences, including the Asia Pacific Conference on Integrated Care 2023. Anita's dedication to lifelong learning and fostering inclusive growth environments makes her a valued facilitator in the field.

P. (02) 4221 3026
E: ahartati@uow.edu.au

 

Martin joined the PCOC team in October 2019 and has extensive palliative care experience working as a registered nurse in consult, inpatient and community setting since 2009.  Prior to joining PCOC, Martin worked as a quality and education clinical nurse consultant in community palliative care.  He has a particular interest in developing capability within services and empowering clinicians to get the most out of their PCOC assessments.

Martin is also a current serving member of the Australian Defence Force, receiving his commission as a Nursing Officer in the Army Reserve in 2016.

P: 0419 340 491
E: mkaltner@uow.edu.au

Tanya has 20 years’ experience in health, including clinical practice (clinical and management, in inpatient, community and telehealth settings), health research and quality improvement. She is a Registered Nurse and recently completed the Master of Public Health at the University of Western Australia. In addition to a Bachelor of Science (Nursing), Tanya has a Cert IV in Training and Assessment and a Bachelor of Creative Industries (graphic design). Tanya joined PCOC in 2010 as a Quality Improvement Facilitator (QIF) for Western Australia, based at the Cancer and Palliative Care Research and Evaluation Unit, UWA. More recently she has become the QIF for the Northern Territory. Tanya works as part of the PCOC team which includes providing support and education for other states and projects with the PCOC national team. Prior to joining PCOC Tanya was employed at the WA Centre for Ageing, UWA, as a Research Officer, and the WA Centre for Cancer and Palliative Care as a Research Assistant on the Liverpool Care Pathway evaluation project. Tanya has been and continues to be involved in a number of palliative care research projects, and has co-authored several journal publications. 

P: (08) 6151 1120
E: tanya.pidgeon@uwa.edu.au

Fiorina worked in PCOC in 2016/17 and returned in 2024 as an Improvement Facilitator, based with the national team at UOW. She has over 30 years’ experience working in public health, primarily in clinical governance, quality improvement, health literacy and consumer engagement. Fiorina holds a master’s degree in public policy from the University of Wollongong and has trained extensively in quality improvement. Fiorina has authored / co-authored journal publications on health literacy systems and interventions.

P: (02) 4239 2165
E: fiorina@uow.edu.au

 

Jesse joined the PCOC team in July 2024 and graduated with a Bachelor of Mathematics (Honours) in 2019, majoring in Applied Statistics. Since then, he has worked as a Biometrician in the agricultural sector before becoming a Performance Analyst for NSW Health. He has held multiple mathematics, statistics and data science teaching roles and has diverse experience with public health sector data and analytics.

P. (02) 4239 3493
E: jrand@uow.edu.au

 

Dr Thomas Futcher is a Data Analyst at the Palliative Care Outcomes Collaboration (PCOC), and he is responsible for producing the biannual reports using SAS, SQL, and R. He collaborates with Improvement Facilitators to ensure data accuracy and correctness of outcome measures. These reports are distributed to services across Australia for the purpose of helping healthcare providers better understand patients’ needs. Dr Futcher is currently in the process of updating the reports services receive from being static to interactive using R Shiny.

P. (02) 4239 3215
E: tfutcher@uow.edu.au

 

Nicola joined the PCOC team in November 2024.  Nicola brings over 12 years of specialised experience in clinical trial ethics and governance processes, with particular expertise in oncology research. Her multifaceted career encompasses team leadership, business development, project management, and significant contributions to research ethics through her voluntary service on the Monash University Animal Ethics Committee. As a consumer volunteer in oncology research, she brought valuable perspective to the intersection of clinical trials and patient needs.

Drawing on her qualifications in Business, Project Management, and Health Sciences, Nicola demonstrates a comprehensive understanding of both the strategic and practical aspects of clinical research. Her commitment to health equity and ethical research practices is reflected in her varied roles across the healthcare research landscape.

P. (02) 4239 3573
E: nichowell@uow.edu.au

Sue Heald joined the Australasian Health Outcomes Consortium (AHOC) in August 2022 as the Senior Administrative Officer, providing support to the PCOC team in both the Sydney and Wollongong offices. Sue has completed a Diploma of Business (Human Resources) and a Diploma in Management at TAFE NSW – Illawarra Institute.  Sue has extensive administrative experience having worked for a variety of Registered Training Organisations over many years, most recently as a Clinical Placement Officer (WSU Online) in the School of Nursing & Midwifery at Western Sydney.

P: (02) 4239 4393
E: sheald@uow.edu.au

Lily Tuivaga joined the PCOC team in August 2024, and graduated with a Bachelor of Communication (Social and Political Sciences) and Bachelor of Creative Intelligence and Innovation in 2019 at the University of Technology, Sydney. She has since completed a Cert. IV in Floristry at TAFE NSW, and has worked as a senior florist for several years throughout Sydney and the Illawarra. Over time, Lily has acquired many years of diverse experience in event coordinating, floral design and administration. 

P: (02) 4239 3521
E: ltuivaga@uow.edu.au

© PCOC UOW 2020. The intellectual property associated with a suite of resources on this website is owned by the Palliative Care Outcomes Collaboration (PCOC), University of Wollongong. PCOC has placed resources in the public domain and is happy for others to use them without charge, modification or development. These resources cannot be modified or developed without the consent of the University.

PCOC is a national palliative care project funded by the Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care.

Contact us

Palliative Care Outcomes Collaboration: c/o Australasian Health Outcomes Consortium, Innovation Campus, University of Wollongong, WOLLONGONG NSW 2522

pcoc@uow.edu.au Location
Visiting Innovation Campus