Palliative Care Information for Patients

Palliative care provides you high quality health care when living with a life limiting illness. Our main aim is to manage pain and other symptoms to make sure your quality of life is maintained. You may need Palliative Care from a diagnosis, or you may choose to take it up once your illness progresses to a certain stage. You can also opt to change the model of palliative care as you go through the various stages of your illness as have periods of wellness and illness.

How much does Palliative Care cost?

Fees for patients being cared for at private hospitals will follow the policy of the individual hospital. Clients living in Aged Care Facilities will not incur any out of pocket fee for private consultations. Community patients being reviewed at home on a frequent basis may be subject to a gap fee, in order to facilitate ongoing care. Whenever practical, we aim to waiver any out of pocket costs for patients and their families, especially in cases of financial problems.

To ensure we can continue to waiver gap fees whenever practical, we ask anyone in a position to help to make a donation when possible so we can continue to do this for many more patients for many years to come

Who is on the Palliative Care team?

Palliative care is multidisciplinary team care, so care is shared between a range of providers from specialists to General Practitioners, nurses, allied health professionals and social workers. We ensure that all of our patients receive the full support, guidance and understanding they require.

Who will help my family when I am gone?

Palliative care also supports carers and family members. There are a number of support services for people who are grieving. We recognise and value families and carers as a pivotal part of the palliative care team. We realise that the provision of care in the home is a challenging experience for family and caregivers, particularly during the dying process. We therefore ensure that all carers are well supported in their carer role, helping them to maintain their own health and wellbeing. We also offer advice, support and education to family and friends in addition to bereavement support.