The involvement and effort of our host sites never go unnoticed and we gratefully recognise that without their support and assistance the success of PEPA would not be what it is today. One of our hardworking palliative care host sites is based at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital and consists of nine team members, which include:
- Consultant physician/Head of department
- Clinical nurse consultant
- Clinic nurse
- Registrar
- Two social workers
- Occupational therapist
- Chaplain
- Administrative assistants.
The service is based in an acute hospital setting where the team deals with a range of complex cases on a daily basis. Thoughts on PEPA and the benefits they have observed for the participants and themselves are expressed below by personnel from the host site:
‘Our team has really enjoyed being a part of the PEPA program and having participants spend time with us. Since its inception three years ago, the program has worked really well and the participants all seem to enjoy their placement and gain a lot of knowledge during their time with us’.
‘PEPA is a great program for the participants who are learning about palliative care, but it has also been valuable for us to learn from the participants. We have found that we have learned so much about the different regional areas, what services they have available, the number of patients they see, and also the types of palliative patients that access their services’.
‘It has also been good to meet new people and gain an understanding of their various roles. It has been positive in the respect that we now have a better understanding of what is happening in the regional areas, and it impels us to ensure we give as much information to the participants as possible, knowing that information normally takes so long to reach these areas. The main thing that our team has taken away from participants is the need for us to pick up the phone and talk to country staff about palliative patients that we are sending back to them’.
‘In addition, it has been good to develop links with the range of health professionals as we now find that the transfer of information when referring future patients has improved at both ends. We quite often receive phone calls from past participants regarding a palliative patient, which in part is because the participant knows us, and feels comfortable enough to call for a chat’.
‘Also having such a broad range of participants is always a good reminder about how fortunate we are to work in a tertiary hospital. We are very rare in that we have a huge pharmacy at our disposal, the full range of laboratory and imaging services and access to other specialist care if required, most of which can be quite a challenge to access especially if you work outside of the metropolitan area’.
‘We look forward to being a part of the program into the future’.
For more information, please visit https://www.scgh.health.wa.gov.au/Our-Services/Service-directory/Palliative-Care