Dr. Peter Allcroft:

In South Australia, from first request through to the final request, at least nine days must have elapsed. If we think time is very short, we can apply to shorten that time period. I have done this for a few patients but my focus has been in providing intensive palliative to those patients rather than losing time with all the legislative dot points that must be adhered to to be eligible for the process. With those who are actively dying - within a week - I try to focus on palliative care. On average, for our patients, it is about 27 days from the first request through to the permit being provided to that patient. With some, it is little bit longer while with others, it is shorter but our mean in South Australia was 27 days in our first 12 months of operation. As our number of patient requests and providing clinicians grow, that will change. That is my personal practice. If somebody is actively dying, time is very short so I will concentrate on palliative care but we have it there as a back up if we need it.