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- Who will coordinate my care?
Who will coordinate my care?
In most cases, a GP or community nurse will coordinate your palliative care. If your care becomes complex, they will usually take advice from a specialist palliative care service, but you may not see the palliative care specialist yourself.
If you have more complex health needs, such as symptoms that are hard to control, you may see a palliative care specialist or nurse practitioner. Usually this will be as an outpatient, but some specialist palliative care services can also visit you at home.
You may need to stay in hospital or a palliative care unit (hospice) for short periods to have medicines adjusted or to get any pain under control. The specialist palliative care service will continue to consult your cancer care team about your treatment. If your condition stabilises or improves, you may not need to see the specialist palliative care service for a period of time, or you may be able to stop having palliative care.
→ READ MORE: What if I live alone?
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Prof Meera Agar, Palliative Care Physician, Professor of Palliative Medicine, University of Technology Sydney, IMPACCT, Sydney, NSW; Anne Booms, Nurse Practitioner, Palliative Care, Icon Cancer Centre Midlands, WA; Nicola Champion, Consumer; John Clements, Consumer; Dr Alexandra Clinch, Palliative Medicine Specialist and Deputy Director, Palliative Care, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and Royal Melbourne Hospital, VIC; A/Prof Jaklin Eliott, School of Public Health, University of Adelaide, SA; Dr Jemma Gilchrist, Clinical Psychologist, Mind My Health, NSW; McCabe Centre for Law and Cancer, VIC; Caitlin MacDonagh, Clinical Nurse Consultant, Palliative Care, Royal North Shore Hospital, NSW; Dr Roya Merie, Radiation Oncologist, Icon Cancer Centre, Concord, NSW; Dr Deidre Morgan, Research Centre for Palliative Care, Death and Dying, Flinders University, SA; Caitriona Nienaber, 13 11 20 Consultant, Cancer Council WA; Palliative Care Australia.
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