In most cases, a GP or community nurse will coordinate your palliative care. If your care becomes complex, they will seek advice from a specialist palliative care service, but you may not see the palliative care specialist yourself.
If you have more complex health needs, such as symptoms that are hard to control, your care may be coordinated by a specialist palliative care service. You will usually see a palliative care specialist, or sometimes a nurse practitioner, as an outpatient. Some specialist palliative care services can visit you at home. You may also need to stay in hospital or a palliative care unit (hospice) for short periods to have medicines adjusted or get pain under control.
The specialist palliative care service will continue to consult your cancer care team about your treatment. If your condition stabilises or improves, you may not need to see the specialist palliative care service for periods of time or you may be discharged from palliative care.
More resources
Dr Cynthia Parr, Specialist in Palliative Care, HammondCare and Macquarie University Hospital, NSW; Dr Lisa Cuddeford, Clinical Lead, WA Paediatric Palliative Care Service, WA; Dr Laura Kirsten, Principal Clinical Psychologist, Nepean Cancer Care Centre, NSW; Penny Neller, Project Coordinator, National Palliative Care Projects, Australian Centre for Health Law Research, Queensland University of Technology, QLD; Caitriona Nienaber, 13 11 20 Consultant, Cancer Council WA; A/Prof Peter Poon, Director, Supportive and Palliative Care, Monash Health, and Adjunct Associate Professor, Monash University, VIC; Dr Kathy Pope, Radiation Oncologist, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, VIC; Kate Reed-Cox, Nurse Practitioner National Clinical Advisor, Palliative Care Australia; Juliane Samara, Nurse Practitioner, Clare Holland House – Specialist Palliative Aged Care, Calvary Public Hospital, ACT; Annabelle Solomon, Consumer; Silvia Stickel, Consumer; Kaitlyn Thorne, Manager, PalAssist, Cancer Council Queensland; Kim Vu, Consumer; Rosie Whitford, Social Worker – Grief, Bereavement and Community Palliative Care, Prince of Wales Hospital, NSW.
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