National Palliative Care Week runs between 21 and 27 May. This year’s theme encourages us to normalise conversations about ‘Matters of Life and Death’ and acknowledges the contribution palliative care can make to a person’s quality of life.
“National Palliative Care Week allows us to thank and celebrate our employees at the heart of quality palliative care here at Monash Health,’ says Fiona Runacres, Acting Head of Unit, Palliative Care
Since McCulloch House was first commissioned as Monash Health’s Palliative Care Unit in 1994, the department has grown and evolved to meet changing patient and community needs.
“Our goal is to strengthen and expand specialist palliative care delivery to Monash Health patients to improve quality of life at all stages of illness, including early supportive care, acute symptom management, and support quality end-of-life care,” says Fiona.
National Palliative Care Week is the perfect time to highlight some of the services available from The Palliative Care Unit at Monash Health, and consider how these may complement your patient’s care.
We recognise palliative care conversations and provision are everyone’s concern, but if you recognise that your patient could be approaching their end of life – please consider an early referral.
Recent innovations and achievements include:
- Being the largest palliative care consultancy service in Victoria.
- Supporting over 2000 patients per year (across six acute and sub-acute sites)!
- The continual development of Casey’s palliative care service, including the commencement of specialist palliative care services (in 2020), and the provision of complex symptom management admissions in the Palliative Care Unit and via the Consultation Liaison Service.
- Palliative Care Virtual Clinics (commenced in 2020), supporting cancer patients with palliative care needs via telehealth. The OncoPain clinic provides additional in-person outpatient support and palliative care for Monash oncology patients.
- The growth of our Supportive Care Clinic (weekly at Clayton), which supports patients with chronic non-malignant disease, in collaboration with complex care, general medicine and nephrology departments.
- RAPID palliative care service, which has supported over 750 Monash Health patients to date, allowing them to remain in the community (when this is their desired venue of care), operating as a stand alone service and also collaborating with HITH, Residential InReach, Complex Care, VirtualED, GEM@Home, outpatient clinics amongst other initiatives.
- HITH palliative care has grown to support end of life care at home for increased patient cohorts.
You can find more information, including referral details for our palliative care service on our McCulloch House and Palliative Care intranet page.
Approved by Anjali Dhulia, Associate Professor Anjali Dhulia – Chief Medical Officer and Executive Director, Medical Services