NURSING & MEDICAL

Nursing

PHS has a successful share care agreement with the Royal District Nursing Service (RDNS). This provides the palliative care nursing component of our service delivery. Working together, PHS and RDNS nurses provide a comprehensive range of expert nursing care to families in their own home.

“The Palliative Care Team was like a life-line for me while I was caring for my husband at home”.

Specialist Palliative Care nurses have additional palliative care qualifications and experience and work as part of the PHS multidisciplinary team.

Relief of pain and other symptoms often requires specialist nursing and medical care. To achieve this, individual care plans are developed in collaboration with our clients to ensure that symptoms are managed in a responsive and effective way.

All clients registered with PHS have nursing services available to them through RDNS, 24 hours a day every day of the year. Contact information is provided at the initial nursing assessment so that access to nursing care is as simple as making a phone call.

Medical

Specialist medical care is provided through the Director of Palliative Care Medicine who is available to provide advice, support and consultancy services to the client and/or their doctor if required.

The client's own doctor (general practitioner) remains the primary medical manager while receiving palliative care in the community and each doctor is invited to participate in a case conference if they so choose. The members of the palliative care team liaise as necessary with the doctor and Palliative Care Medical Consultant.

The nurses working at PHS and RDNS have regular contact with the doctors to update them on current nursing issues and to discuss ongoing medical direction if changes are required to medication or care.

“Mutual respect is the key ingredient for success in home nursing”.

Contact PHS for more information.

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