What is Palliative Care?

Palliative care is specialised care for people living with serious illness. Palliative care teams are quality of life experts, helping to relieve pain and other difficult symptoms while also supporting emotional, social and spiritual wellbeing.

It can support people living with many different serious illnesses, including cancer, advanced heart disease, severe lung or kidney disease, liver disease, progressive neurological conditions such as motor neurone disease or Parkinson’s disease, and dementia.

This care is provided alongside other medical treatment, from the time of diagnosis and throughout the course of an illness. The palliative care team works in partnership with the patient, family and other healthcare professionals. They help people understand what is happening, manage symptoms, make informed decisions, and plan for what may lie ahead. This may include discussing what matters most to the patient and making plans for future care as the illness changes.

Serious illness can be a long and uncertain journey. A palliative care team can be a trusted partner along the way, providing specialist support as needs change.

Palliative care is usually provided by a multidisciplinary team that may include doctors, nurses, social workers, counsellors and other healthcare professionals. Care can be offered wherever the patient is — in hospital, in a clinic or consulting room, in a hospice, or at home.