Palliative care prevents and relieves suffering through early identification, correct assessment and treatment of pain and other problems - whether physical, psychosocial or spiritual. Palliative Care uses a team approach to support patients and their care givers. (World Health Organisation, 2023)

Palliative care services are here to support you at every stage of your illness. This is from the moment of diagnosis, through the changes in your condition, to the final days of life and beyond to the bereavement support for your carers and family.

The Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District's (ISLHD's) Palliative Care Service provides expert care, with a team of specialist doctors, nurses, allied health professionals, volunteer coordinators and compassionate volunteers to help you navigate the challenges of living with illness. Our Service collaborates with your care team, including GPs and other specialists, to enhance your comfort and quality of life, allowing you and/or your loved ones to focus on living life to the fullest.

Our experienced staff assess your individual needs and those of your carer and/or family to understand your personal wishes and choices for care. We offer:

• regular assessments and treatments to address symptoms such as pain, nausea, breathlessness and anxiety
• support for physical, emotional, cultural, spiritual, practical and social needs
• specialist medical support in any ISLHD hospital, residential aged care facility or in the comfort of your own home
• access to loan equipment to ensure safe care at home
• after-hours support
• volunteer support to you and/or your carer and/or family

 Our services are free of charge for those referred to our Service.

Palliative Care Inpatient Services are currently based at Bulli and Berry.

In the Illawarra, we have a 15-bed Palliative Care Unit at Bulli District Hospital. There is also a Palliative Care Consult Service based at the Wollongong Hospital which provides services across Wollongong, Shellharbour and Coledale hospitals.

In the Shoalhaven, we have a 8-bed Palliative Care Unit at David Berry Hospital. The Shoalhaven Palliative Care Consult Service is based at the Shoalhaven District Memorial Hospital and provides consult services to Shoalhaven and Milton Hospitals.

Both inpatient teams and consult services work closely with the Community Palliative Care Service.

People requiring admission to a Palliative Care unit can be transferred from within the hospital, transferred from other hospitals or can be directly admitted to the ward via the Community Palliative Care team. A Palliative Care Consultant will be responsible for accepting a person on to the ward.

Contact

The Palliative Care Symptom Management Outpatient Clinic (SMOC) is available if you require symptom management or input from a Palliative Care Specialist Doctor, but do not require the support of the entire community service including nursing, allied health and volunteers in the home.  

SMOC clinics are currently located in Wollongong and Dapto in the Illawarra.  In the future, clinics will be available in the Shoalhaven.

To access this clinic, ask your treating doctor for a referral.

The Community Palliative Care Service can provide:

• access to support via phone, video call/virtual or home visits
• support from a specialist multidisciplinary care team (medical, nursing, allied health, Aboriginal Health Worker, volunteers, bereavement support)
• emotional, spiritual, practical, social and psychological support, and support for you to meet cultural obligations
• help with Advance Care Planning discussions and supporting families to come together to talk about sensitive issues
• support for your carers and families
• consult-liaison in-reach service in Residential Aged Care Facilities provided by our Older Persons' team of specialist nurses
• counselling and grief support
• referrals to respite care and other services
• access to our short term equipment loan pool
• access to carer education for those wishing to engage in Caring@home (support with end-of-life care medications if you wish to die at home)
• volunteer support for you and/or carers and/or family
• bereavement follow up and support for your carer and/or significant others

Contact

For all Community Palliative Care needs please contact 1300 068 458, this number can be called 24/7.

Business hours are 6:00am to 11:00pm, 7 days a week.

Our Palliative Care Team

The Community Palliative Care Service is an interdisciplinary team of doctors, nurses and allied health professionals who work alongside volunteers.  They work with your local health care team like GPs and other specialists, to provide comfort and quality of life, while you get on with living.

Palliative Care doctors are Palliative Medicine Specialists, who have completed additional advanced specialist training in Palliative Medicine.  They have knowledge and expertise in managing symptoms that are caused by your illness or medical treatments.  They are trained to manage symptoms that occur with advanced or progressing disease.

The Palliative Care Community Nursing team is made up of specialist nurses including Nurse Practitioners, Clinical Nurse Consultants (CNC), Clinical Nurse Specialists (CNS) and Palliative Care Registered Nurses (PCRN).  Community Health Nurses (CHN) also work as part of our palliative care nursing team. Specialist Palliative Care nurses often have additional training and experience in palliative care. Palliative nurse practitioners have advanced training to treat patients with life limiting illnesses.  They are skilled clinicians who are knowledgeable about a wide range of medical conditions. They assess and treat symptoms, develop treatment plans, prescribe medications and provide emotional support for patients and their families. Our palliative care community nurses offer a high standard of expert support for you and your family.  They are all trained and experienced in looking after people at home.  They will be guided in the care and support they give by your care plan, provided by your doctor or nurse practitioner.  We will try to make sure that you are cared for by the same nursing team throughout your journey, however, it may not always be possible to have the same nurse, depending on the shifts they are working and the demand for our services. 

The Community Palliative Care Allied Health team provide expert care and support to you, your carer and family. Specialist Palliative Care Allied Health Clinicians have additional training and experience to provide an advanced level of care.  There are a number of specialised allied health disciplines including:

Community palliative care volunteers make a difference in the lives of others. They are specially trained to offer emotional and social support for palliative patients in their homes.

You can receive support from one of more of these staff, depending on you and/or your carer/family needs.

Palliative Care Volunteers  

Palliative care volunteers make a difference in the lives of others. They are specially trained to offer emotional and social support for palliative patients in hospitals and in their homes.  

Volunteers understand palliative care concerns and make a valuable contribution to the 'total care' of patients and their carers.   

They complement clinical care by:  

• offering companionship  

• providing respite and support for carers  

• reading, playing games, writing letters  

• sharing their skills and interests  

• assisting with activities  

• helping patients to leave behind memories of their life by assisting them in writing their life story, creating a memory box, or recording a biography of life events

• providing basic practical support - not patient care  

• and most importantly being a friendly ear!  

They are bound by the same professional and ethical standards as staff, most importantly respecting and maintaining privacy and confidentiality.  

Volunteer Grief Companions   

 Our trained volunteers provide non-judgmental, flexible and compassionate grief support.    

 A volunteer can:   

• Chat over a cup of tea; allowing the bereaved person to feel comfortable expressing their grief   

• ‘Walk and talk’    

• Discuss current practical issues the person is facing and options for help   

Our volunteers bring experience from all walks of life and have been trained in palliative care, listening skills and bereavement support.  They are there to listen rather than direct.    

Volunteer Bereavement Navigators  

** coming in 2024  **  

After the death of a person, the tasks associated with arranging funerals and dealing with lots of paperwork related to a person's estate can be challenging. Dealing with significant administration tasks and bureaucratic processes can feel like an additional burden at this time when you are grieving. Having to notify people and organisations can be painful and difficult. 

Our volunteer Bereavement Navigators can help guide you through the many tasks and challenges that accompany the death of a person. They provide practical support to carers, families or friends, supporting you with the with tasks of what to do after a person dies.  Please speak to your palliative care clinician if you would like more information on volunteers and how they can provide support and assistance.