Dr Peta McVey, PCNSW Palliative Care Guidance Manager, recently provided a professional education session at GenesisCare, North Shore. Twelve staff from the medical and radiation oncology outpatient unit attended the early morning session prior to commencing their day. Staff working in the unit were keen to revisit palliative care principles, talk about specific issues they had encountered, gain some tips on how to open a discussion about Advance Care Planning and when and how to access Specialist Palliative Care services.
Staff were also provided with useful web resources to help with future learning and an overview of how to look up palliative care services via the PCNSW Service Directory. This was a great opportunity to connect with a healthcare team to support their palliative care learning which in turn assists the GenesisCare team to meet their purpose of designing better care. We commend GenesisCare for reaching out to PCNSW and we are keen to support other professional education opportunities like this.
A little more about the Palliative Care Guidance Manager role at PCNSW
As the Palliative Care Guidance Manager, Peta has been updating the online NSW Service Directory, which is an important resource for GPs, nurses, patients, families and carers looking to identify Specialist Palliative Care services in their area. Click here to access this directory NSW Service Directory.
Another part of Peta’s role is to respond to calls to PCNSW from families, carers and health professionals, providing advice and direction for services. Over the past 12 months there has been a total of 357 calls and the calls have been increasing as knowledge of this service grows. Of these total calls, two-thirds of calls were from a carer / family member or friend. The reasoning behind their contact was for an explanation of palliative care and how it operates, details on how to refer to a specialist palliative care service which requires a medical referral from the persons General Practitioner / treating team, and specific contact details of services within their geographical area. Additionally, some carers / family members have asked about symptom management (such as poor mobility, pain issues, poor appetite) requiring linkage to specialist palliative care for review. The Palliative Care Guidance Manager role is funded by the NSW Ministry of Health.
Interested in knowing more or would like to chat to Peta about the NSW Service Directory? Peta can be contacted on 02 8076 5604 or via email pcguide@palliativecarensw.org.au