Palliative Care

Specialist Services

These services are provided by multidisciplinary teams of people who are trained in and specialise in palliative care. They work in hospitals, or in the community as part of a hospice.

Some of the services they may offer are:

• Assessment, advice and support for patients and families, and the staff looking after them, if there are more complex problems.
• Managing physical symptoms when they are difficult to control, e.g. pain, breathlessness, nausea, fatigue, loss of appetite
• Giving time to allow people to talk about the effects of the illness on them and their family
• Helping people to cope with the physical, emotional, psychological and spiritual aspects of living with the illness
• Up to date information about services available to help, e.g. financial, practical help
• Advice and support to help people to plan for the future, e.g. adjusting to life changes, how and where care can be provided
• Day care centres that offer a range of facilities and an environment where experiences and anxieties can be shared
• Specialist in-patient units where patients can stay for a short time while their needs are assessed, to give a carer a break, or sometimes at the end of a person’s life
• Bereavement support for families of patients who were under their care
• Education and training in palliative care

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