About us

Palliative care is the care of people with an advanced disease where a cure or recovery is unlikely. This care is extended to a person's family and carers.

We work with patients and their families at any point when they require support, from diagnosis through to death and bereavement.

Our services

We provide the following services:

• Palliative Care Unit (PCU)
• Palliative Care Clinic
• Palliative Care Consultancy Team
• Palliative Care RAPID outreach service

We liaise closely with community palliative care services to ensure that the care is continued when patients return home.

Palliative Care Unit

The Palliative Care Unit is located on Ward 8 South, Level 8 of the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Wellness & Research Centre. 

Patients are admitted to this 24 bed inpatient unit if they have a progressive life limiting illness (cancer and non-cancer), complex pain and symptom management issues or emotional or psychological distress.

We care for and support people with:

• Managing complex pain or symptoms
• Discharge planning
• End-of-life care

Where possible, we assist patients to return to their home, with the support of community-based palliative care service providers from the North and West Region Palliative Care Consortium.

PCU is run by a specialist team of medical, nursing and allied health staff, with visiting pastoral care and volunteer staff. We also use wellness therapies and programs.

Palliative Care Clinic

We run a weekly clinic for outpatients with specialist palliative care needs.

People seen by the palliative care consultancy team during a hospital admission are often referred to the clinic for ongoing follow-up once they are discharged home. Some patients referred to Clinic are seen at home by the RAPID outreach service.

We also accept referrals from general practitioners for Austin Health patients.

The Palliative Care Clinic works to collaborate and communicate with Austin Health treating teams, community palliative care services and the patient's general practitioner.

Find out more about clinic times and bookings in Specialist Clinics.

Palliative Care Consultancy Team

Our Palliative Care Consultancy Team consists of medical and nursing consultants. We work with inpatients across Austin Health who have a progressive life limiting illness (cancer and non-cancer) to help them manage their pain, symptoms and maximise their wellbeing in the face of their illness.

We care for and support people with:

• Managing pain or other symptoms, including emotional and spiritual distress, in conjunction with their treatment team
• Discharge planning, including linking in with community palliative care and other support services
• Transfers to the PCU

A patient's hospital treating team may contact the consultancy team to help support patients and their families with life-limiting illness, sometimes from the time of diagnosis.

The consultancy team also supports outpatients, for example in the chemotherapy day unit.

Palliative Care RAPID outreach service

Working closely with the consultancy and clinic teams, the Austin Health RAPID service can support patients in the community, to help get them home from hospital faster, prevent having to come back into hospital if possible, and help to link in to community palliative care services. The RAPID team also supports outpatients, for example in the chemotherapy day unit.

• Palliative care

  Find out more about our palliative care service at the ONJ Centre.

Contact us

Palliative Care Unit

Phone: 03 9496 2542

Fax: 03 9496 4213

Open hours: 24 hours a day

Manager

Kylie Johnson
Nurse Unit Manager

Location

Olivia Newton-John Cancer Wellness & Research Centre
Level 8
145 Studley Road
Heidelberg Victoria

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