Table 6.

Desirable features of a funding model for palliative care.

Desirable features of a funding model for palliative care should be to aid acceptable and effective delivery to those that need it including:

• Support for the goal of getting appropriately early access to palliative care (not just at the end of life)

• Support for an appropriate mix of services with palliative and curative intent

• Support for services in the most appropriate location

• Avoiding financial hardship to service users and families

• Providing stable and predictable funding that allows services to be planned and developed in a coherent way

• Support services with clear entitlements, and that are easy to understand and navigate, and which avoid unnecessary administration and transaction costs