Many palliative care patients wish to remain at home for as long a possible. To help achieve this aim, patients need rapid access to medications to provide symptom relief. If symptom relief is not achieved patients may need to present to Emergency Departments and this can result in inappropriate admissions to acute care facilities and poor patient outcomes. Palliative care service providers recognise the need for patients receiving home based palliative care to:

1. have their independence and quality of life maximised. This includes optimal pharmacological management of the symptoms related to their disease processes
2. remain at home as long as is desired and/or possible; and to
3. be provided with suitable support, including support for their families and carers, to enable their wishes to be fulfilled. The purpose of this document is to present consensus based best practice for the handling of medication(s) by individuals and staff of community-based palliative care services. The document has been written with consideration of the needs listed above and complies with requirements within the Health (Drugs and Poisons) Regulation 1996, including the 1998 amendment to that Regulation. The document contains guidelines that have been compiled by the Palliative Care Network, Brisbane Forum, Medication Subcommittee and modified by the Brisbane South Palliative Care Collaborative after extensive consultation with key service providers including government and non-government services. The document has been endorsed by the Environmental Health Unit, Queensland Health in October 2008, and Queensland Health Patient Safety and Quality Executive Committee in August 2009. It is expected that these guidelines will be used by palliative care services to inform the development of detailed protocols and procedures tailored to the requirements of individual services or facilities. Such protocols and procedures support health care providers in the practice of handling and administering medications to palliative care patients living at home.