Palliative Care
Palliative care is an approach that improves the quality of life of patients and their families facing the problem associated with life-threatening illness, through the prevention and relief of suffering by means of early identification and impeccable assessment and treatment of pain and other problems, physical, psychosocial and spiritual.
What is Palliative care:
- Provides relief from pain and other distressing symptoms
- Affirms life and regards dying as a normal process
- Intends neither to hasten or postpone death
- Integrates the psychological and spiritual aspects of patient care
- Offers a support system to help patients live as actively as possible until death
- Offers a support system to help the family cope during the patients illness and in their own bereavement
- Uses a team approach to address the needs of patients and their families, including bereavement counselling, if indicated
- Will enhance quality of life, and may also positively influence the course of illness
- Is applicable early in the course of illness, in conjunction with other therapies that are intended to prolong life, such as chemotherapy or radiation therapy, and includes those investigations needed to better understand and manage distressing clinical complications. (WHO 1990)
What we do:
- Provision of palliative care is not dependant on prognosis and can be offered at the same time as curative treatments. This can help the patient to maximise the benefits of treatments and live as well as possible with the effects of the disease.
- The goal of care is to promote quality of life throughout the illness journey and enable wellbeing through the relief of suffering/distress.
- Once referred patients are seen by the consultant and/or nurse on a shared care basis for continued assessment, evaluation and management of their symptoms until discharge with a plan of follow up review in place.
- Family meetings are usually arranged to facilitate open communication between the patient, family and the team in order to provide information, discuss wishes/concerns and plan for discharge or place of care for end of life.
- Arrange referrals to:
a) specialist community palliative care services for ongoing support in the patients own home.
b) Outpatient and Day Hospice service, Therapeutic programme services
c) Inpatient Hospice admission unit for symptom control or terminal care.
- Liaise with the general practitioners (GPs), primary health care providers, public health nurses, community home care teams and pharmacies, ensuring continuity of care.
- Supporting patients at the end of their lives is an important part of our services here in Bon Secours Hospital, Dublin and we are committed to ensuring exceptional person centred care at this time. Enabling a comfortable, dignified death for our patients while supporting our families in their grief.
- End of life care is the term used to describe care that is provided during the period when death appears to be imminent and life expectancy appears to be limited to a short number of hours or days.
Dr. Liam O Siorain
Consultant in Palliative Medicine
Areas of Interest
Pain and Fatigue Management, Rehabilitation in Palliative Care
Contact Details
- Dr. Liam O Siorain
- Bon Secours Hospital, Glasnevin, Dublin 9
Secretary
- palliativecaredublin@bonsecours.ie
- Tel: 01 8082332
Patients are generally referred to the Palliative Care Team by one of the specialist consultants within the hospital.
The specialist palliative care team at the Bon Secours Hospital Dublin includes a consultant in palliative medicine – Dr Liam O Siorain and a clinical nurse specialist in palliative care - Geraldine Nolan.
The team works alongside existing hospital teams in an advisory and supportive capacity. We are available three days a week to see inpatients as a shared care basis and day oncology patients on a consult basis. The consultant also shares in the oncology consultant weekend on-call rota.
The aim is to provide a comprehensive holistic and integrated service to all patients and their families.
Patients with a chronic, debilitating progressive disease are seen on request of the patient’s admitting consultant. This may be on diagnosis, during various admissions for exacerbations, progression or deterioration of their illness. The disease may be cancer, cardiovascular, respiratory, renal or neurological with significant symptoms and /or require practical/emotional/social supports or end of life care planning.
Referrals are made for advice and/or management of difficult or burdensome symptoms such as pain, breathlessness, anorexia, nausea and fatigue.
