Palliative Care
How we can help you
Palliative care can improve symptoms and help you and your family to achieve the best possible quality of life throughout your illness. Help is available to anyone with any life-limiting illness, not only cancer.We can help you to navigate through our complex care system, ensuring you have the key information you need. We will talk with you about your feelings, values and wishes for your care.
Our aim is to improve your quality of life while you face problems associated with your life-limiting illness. We aim to prevent and relieve your suffering by carefully treating your pain and other problems, be it physical, psychosocial and spiritual.
Palliative care is not just about caring for patients who are dying. The majority of our work is dedicated to improving the control of your symptoms, particularly if you have advanced disease, including advanced cancers. We can also help to make cancer treatment more tolerable.
If your family members are finding illness difficult to cope with, our team is available to help at any stage of your illness.
Your care team consists of specialists, registrars, nurses, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, social workers, dieticians, psychologists and volunteers provide assessment, advice, support and care planning in partnership with your treating specialists, general practitioners, even at home. The Nelune Comprehensive Cancer Centre, The Prince of Wales Hospital and St Vincent’s have partnered to deliver a comprehensive and coordinated palliative care service across the Randwick district.
Staff Specialists:
- Dr Helen Herz
- Dr Meg Sands
The Palliative Care service includes medical and nursing specialists who see patients on the Randwick Hospitals Campus including Prince of Wales Hospital, Prince of Wales Private Hospital, The Royal Hospital for Women, and Sydney Children’s Hospital, as well as in the home, who are referred. There is also a Nurse Practitioner who sees patients in residential aged care facilities.
Quality of life can be impacted by many different causes, including symptoms of pain, nausea, breathlessness and others. The impact of treatment can also lead to uncertainty and concern about the future. Many people living with advanced illnesses can benefit from palliative care. There is published evidence that seeing the palliative care team can even help patients with cancer to live longer and better.
If you live in the South East Sydney region and have a life-limiting illness such as cancer, emphysema, heart or kidney failure you may be referred by your local family doctor or a medical specialist to use our services. Please request your doctor to send us your referral letter together with all relevant test results.
Once we have received a completed referral, we will send you a confirmation appointment letter, which will tell you where your appointment is located and what information you should bring with you.
If you need to change or cancel your appointment, please call us on 9382 5111.
- Current Medicare card or Veteran Affairs card
- Any Health Care Card, Pensioner Concession Card or Commonwealth Seniors Health Care Card.
- Insurer details (eg workers compensation, public liability or third party).
- Your Private Health Fund Membership card if you are currently insured with a private health fund.
- A list of your current medications.
- Recent X-rays or medical images and their reports, if applicable.
- Activities to keep you entertained while waiting (for example, a book, music player with headphones, crosswords). There is also a television and magazines available in the waiting area.
Please let us know if you need an interpreter. You can contact us by telephoning the Translating and Interpreting Service (TIS) on 131 450. Tell the operator what language you speak and then ask the interpreter to set up a telephone conversation between you, an interpreter, and the healthcare professional you want to speak with.
We are a teaching hospital and student doctors or nurses may be involved and supervised by senior staff during your visit. You have the right to say no. If you do so, this will no impact in any way on the services we will provide.
At times our department participates in clinical research, and you may be asked if you would like to participate in a trial or study. You have a right to say no without there being any impact on your care.