Supportive Care Service (SCS) - for Patients and Families
How can we help?
Our clinic can help you if you are living in the community with a non-cancer life-limiting or terminal illness. The clinic aims to help you and your family to ensure you are as comfortable as possible and have the best quality of life you can.
We can help with:
- managing your pain or symptoms
- your nutrition
- swallowing and communication
- mobility and safety at home
- psychological and social support
- referrals to other services or places that can help
We are a team of different health professionals including doctors, nurses and allied health professionals including dietetics, occupational therapy, pharmacy, physiotherapy, psychology, social work and speech pathology.
| Palliative Care Specialist | |
| Supportive Care Specialist | Dr Isuru Ratnayake |
| Nursing | |
| Clinical Nurse Consultant CSCS) | Monita Mesuria |
| Allied Health | |
| Dietitian | Toni Peebles |
| Occupational Therapist | Monique Humphries |
| Pharmacist | Sarah Watson |
| Physiotherapist | Sharon Power |
| Psychologist | TBA |
| Social Worker | Fatin Darwish |
| Speech Pathologist | Val Maynes |
| Administration | Pauline Barker |
Our clinic is located in Room 6, 4 North, Tower Block Building,
Gray Street, St George Hospital
Refer to our campus map.
| Clinic Name | Clinic Day | Clinic Time |
|---|---|---|
| St George/Sutherland Community Supportive Care Service (CSCS) | Tuesday | 8.00 am - 4.30 pm |
You will first see Dr Isuru Ratnayake our specialist doctor and Monita Mesuria our Clinical Nurse Consultant. You will also see other health professionals from our team. Depending on availability there may be other health professionals present at your appointments.
To be eligible to use our service you must need the care of many different health professionals from our team.
If you live in the South East Sydney region and have a life-limiting illness such as Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), heart failure, or liver disease you may be referred by your local family doctor or a medical specialist to use our services. Please ask your doctor to send us a referral letter together with relevant medical history and a list of all your current medication.
Once we have received a completed referral, we will contact you by phone to 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 telephone the Aged Care Department during business hours on the clinic phone number (02) 9113 4182
Please make sure you bring:
- Your referral letter
- Current Medicare or Department of Veterans Affairs card
- Any health care card, pensioner concession card or Commonwealth seniors health care card
- Your private health fund membership if you have one
- Recent X-rays or medical images and their reports
- Activities to keep you entertained while waiting, e.g. book, music player, crosswords.
We are a teaching hospital, and you may be asked to be involved in research or for a student to be present at your appointment. We are committed to the ongoing development of health resources and encourage research and student teaching when appropriate. You have a right to say no. If you do so, this will not impact in any way the services we provide.
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.