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Welcome to the website of the North and West Metropolitan Region Palliative Care Consortium!

WHAT IS PALLIATIVE CARE?

"Palliative care is care provided to people of all ages who have a life limiting illness, with little or no prospect of cure, and for whom the primary treatment goal is quality of life.”

Standards for Providing Quality Palliative Care for all Australians. Palliative Care Australia 2005.

There are a number of definitions of palliative care, but they all have the same elements in common.
• The person has an illness that will progress or get worse over time.
• The illness is unlikely to be cured.
• The illness may be caused by cancer, or may be caused by heart disease, kidney disease, lung disease, severe stroke or a range of other conditions that cannot be cured.
• Palliative care provides care for the WHOLE person, not just the physical elements (such as pain) but symptoms that are due to emotional, psychological, spiritual, social and cultural factors.
• Palliative care does not hasten or postpone death.
• Palliative care provides for the needs of the person with the illness, their families and other people important to them.
• Palliative care aims to help people live as actively and normally as possible.
• Palliative care provides the client with a choice about the site of their care (at home, in hospital or in a palliative care unit) and can provide respite care for people looking after family members at home.
• Palliative care offers bereavement support to families and friends after the person has died.

Who provides Palliative Care in the North and West Metropolitan region of Melbourne?

The North and West Metropolitan Regional Palliative Care Consortium (N&WRPCC) is an alliance of specialist palliative care providers and was established in December 2004. It involves organisations that work in the community (caring for people in their homes), in acute settings (caring for people who are in a hospital) and in inpatient settings (providing care in a hospice or palliative care unit). The organisations who are members of our consortium are:
• Northern Health
• Western Health
• Austin Health
• Melbourne Citymission
• Werribee Mercy Hospital
• Mercy Western Palliative Care
• Royal Melbourne Hospital
• Royal District Nursing Service
• Banksia Palliative Care