Clare Holland House

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. How much will it cost to be at Clare Holland House?
A. Clare Holland House is a public facility and this means that anyone holding a Medicare card or entitled to free health services under agreements with other countries is entitled to care at no charge.

If you have private health insurance you can elect to stay at Clare Holland House as a private patient. If you do use your private health insurance Clare Holland House provides a no gap payment, meaning you will not face any out of pocket expenses.

Q. Who will be involved in my care?
A. Clare Holland House has a multidisciplinary, experienced and highly skilled team of staff who are available to patients and their family/carer as required. The team includes nurses, doctors, social workers/counsellor,  a pharmicist, an occupational therapist a physiotherapist, pastoral care workers and volunteers.

Each member of the team brings a valuable skill set to your palliative care program, and they will work together to ensure the range of treatments you receive are coordinated.

Wherever possible, treatments will be scheduled for times that have the minimum impact on the times you want to spend with family, friends and other visitors.

It is vital that during the time you spend at Clare Holland House your treatment progresses in accordance with your intentions and the wishes of your family. If you have any concerns about any aspect of your treatment you should raise your concerns with any member of the team caring for you.

Q. Is there anyone to assist me with non-clinical support and care?
A. Yes, the ACT Palliative Care Society (ACT PCS) co-ordinates a volunteer program that provides non clinical services and support to Clare Holland House patients.

When you are admitted to Clare Holland House you will be asked if you want to receive visits from the ACT PCS volunteers. An ACT PCS volunteer will visit and find out from you the type of assistance you are looking for.

This may be just companionship from a regular visit; it may be some help with things like attending to messages; it could be hand or foot massage, assisting with transport for outside appointments, reading with you; and in some cases maybe a short excursion from Clare Holland House.

The ACT PCS volunteers coordinate their visits around your clinical needs. Their diverse membership means that the volunteer group covers most fields of interest so there is often a lot of common ground between the patient and the volunteers they meet.

Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation
As a part of the admission procedures to Clare Holland House your wishes in respect of resuscitation will be clarified and included on your medical record. It is important to ask as many questions as you need to make your decision.

Clare Holland House does not have the facilities for comprehensive resuscitation, so if it is required an ambulance will be called to take the patient to one of Canberra’s acute care hospitals.