South Western Sydney Clinical School

What is ImPaCCT?

ImPaCCT (Improving Palliative Care through Clinical Trials) is the New South Wales (NSW) collaborative clinical trials group in palliative care.

Mission and aims

ImPaCCT’s mission is to improve NSW palliative care services for people with advanced cancer and other life limiting illness through ethical, scientifically rigorous, collaborative research.

We aim to:

1. Develop a program of funded, ethical and scientifically rigorous clinical studies with consumer involvement and input from key disciplines including medicine, nursing, allied health and social work;
2. Enable large-scale, multi-centre research required to answer important clinical research questions;
3. Build NSW’s profile in national and international clinical research in palliative care;
4. Link existing researchers from any discipline who are undertaking clinical research in palliative care in NSW;
5. Build capacity among clinical staff, consumers and caregivers to contribute to palliative care research development, conduct, interpretation, reporting and translation;
6. Encourage collaboration in NSW palliative care research by researchers with established expertise in relevant fields;
7. Foster an evidence-based approach to palliative care in NSW.

How is ImPaCCT funded?

Infrastructure funding has been obtained from the Cancer Institute NSW by collaborators from the following organisations:

Health Services

• Calgary Health Care Sydney
• HammondCare
• Central Coast Local Health District
• Northern Sydney Local Health District
• Sacred Heart Palliative Care Service
• South East Sydney Local Health District
• Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District
• South Western Sydney Local Health District
• Sydney Local Health District
   

Universities / research groups

• Centre for Cardiovascular & Chronic Care (Curtin University of Technology & University of Technology Sydney)
• The Cunningham Centre for Palliative Care
• School of Medicine and Public Health, The University of Newcastle
• School of Medicine, Sydney, The University of Notre Dame
• Sydney Medical School and Centre for Medical Psychology and Evidence-based Decision-making (CeMPED), The University of Sydney
• South Western Sydney Clinical School, Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales (UNSW)
   

Infrastructure funding is administered through UNSW’s South Western Sydney Clinical School.

Funding for each research project is sought via competitive schemes.

Who is involved?

Collaboration is at the level of individual researchers rather than via formal relationships between organisations. ImPaCCT welcomes involvement from consumers and clinical/research staff from any discipline relevant to palliative care.

Members of ImPaCCT’s Management Advisory Committee (MAC) include:

• A/Prof Meera Agar (Chair)
• A/Prof Richard Chye
• A/Prof Katherine Clark
• A/Prof Josephine Clayton
• Prof Patricia Davidson
• Prof Janet Hardy (Palliative Care Clinical Studies Collaborative [PaCCSC])
• A/Prof Winston Liauw
• A/Prof Elizabeth Lobb
• Dr Melanie Lovell
• Ms Beverley Noble (consumer representative; Cancer Voices NSW)
• Prof Jane Phillips
• Dr Christine Sanderson
• Mrs Beverley Noble
• Dr Wei Xuan
   

What does ImPaCCT research?

Studies underway or in development focus on:

• Improving service delivery and quality of care;
• Improving communication between health professionals and patients;
• Improving the assessment and management of common symptoms; (including development of a national guideline for cancer pain management in adults);
• Better understanding prescribing practices in palliative care.
   

ImPaCCT welcomes ideas for investigator and industry-led studies on these and other topics relevant to palliative care.

Is ImPaCCT only interested in clinical trials?

ImPaCCT will consider any study that informs the development and evaluation of future interventions or will otherwise lead to improvements in palliative care.

How can I get involved?

Consumers and clinical and research staff working in palliative care are invited to:

• Submit ideas for new ImPaCCT studies; and/or
• Involve their hospital, department or service as a study site.
   

I don’t live or work in NSW. Are there other Australian palliative care collaborative trials groups I can get involved with?

The national collaborative trials group in palliative care is the Palliative Care Clinical Studies Collaborative (PaCCSC).

ImPaCCT’s work is intended to complement that of the national group.

Where can I get more information?

Please contact:

Dr Tim Luckett
ImPaCCT Program Coordinator
Email: t.luckett@unsw.edu.au
Phone: +61 412 175649