Clare Holland House

Medical Services

Clare Holland House provides specialist medical palliative care to the ACT and surrounding region. The medical team is lead by the medical director palliative care and includes other palliative care specialists.

The palliative care specialists are available 24 hours a day seven days a week to provide advice and support to medical practitioners within ACT and surrounding region. They may be contacted through reception at Clare Holland House at any time.

The services provided by our team:

Clare Holland House Inpatient Unit (Hospice)
Care is provided within the unit by a palliative care specialist and medical registrar, on rotation from The Canberra Hospital. Medical staff are rostered between 8.30am and 5.30pm and are on call after hours. Weekend cover is provided by accredited general practitioners with support from the specialist on call.

Home Based Palliative Care
The Home Based Palliative Care team provides palliative care services to patients and families in the home. The team consists of registered nurses, a doctor, social workers, pastoral care, occupational therapy and physiotherapy professionals. All of these health professionals specialize in palliative care and are available to see the patient and their family in the home setting.

The home includes Residential Aged Care Facilities (nursing homes and hostels). The team has a clinical nurse consultant who works only to support patients in these facilities. Our palliative care specialist doctors (GP referral needed) and pastoral care team are also available to visit patients in residential aged care facilities.

The aim of the Home Based Palliative Care team is to promote the comfort and well being of people with terminal illness. This not only includes physical comfort (managing pain and other distressing symptoms) but also the emotional, spiritual and psychological well being of patients and their families. Our focus is on improving the quality of life of both the patient and their family.

We achieve this aim by:

• Advising and supporting the primary care team (e.g., general practitioners, community nurses) in the provision of palliative care.
• Managing distressing symptoms.
• Teaching the family how to care for the patient.
• Providing equipment to support the patient to stay in the home setting as long as possible.
• Providing 24 hour telephone advice (and home visits if necessary)
• Providing support to the bereaved. See Clare Holland House bereavement service.

To be assessed for admission to the home based palliative care service, a referral written by a health professional is required. Health professionals may include your G.P,  your community nurse or your treating medical or nursing team in a hospital. Referral forms are available on this website.

Patients with home based palliative care are visited according to need. Some are visited daily while others are visited weekly or fortnightly. Some, with minimal care needs, are only contacted by phone while others, if stable, are discharged.

Home based palliative care does not routinely provide assistance with personal care needs (such as showering) but can refer to other organizations if this is necessary. Other care needs, (such as dressings, insulin or clexane injections) are managed by the community nursing service with whom we work closely. Home based palliative care is able to refer patients and families to the ACT Palliative Care Society Volunteers Service if this is requested.

Home based palliative care does not provide services in New South Wales. Contacts for palliative care services in NSW are provided on the links page.

Hospital Consultancy Service
A palliative care specialist provides a consultancy service to all ACT public and private hospitals following referral from the treating specialist. Within The Canberra Hospital and Calvary Public Hospital the service includes specialist palliative care nurses.