What is palliative Care?
Palliative care is provided for someone whose illness is not able to be cured.  The focus is on comfort and assisting the person to live as well as possible.  Early referral to palliative care services means that supports can be offered to assist the patient to remain in their own home for as long as possible.

Yorke Peninsula and Lower North Rural Palliative Care Project
Since August 2008 the Yorke Peninsula Division of General Practice in partnership with the Mid North Division of Rural Medicine, has received funding from the Department of Health & Ageing to conduct a Rural Palliative Care Project.  The aim of the project is to significantly improve rural community access to quality, coordinated palliative care across the Yorke and Lower North Region.

Focus of the Project
Working in collaboration with Yorke and Lower North Health, the focus of the project is to enhance existing Palliative Care services by improving the knowledge, skills and capacity of all stakeholders in the management of Palliative care clients.

Key Project Strategies:
- Strengthen and maintain partnerships with local service providers (via Local Advisory Panel)
- To provide appropriate education and training for GPs and health professionals to ensure a consistent approach to the management of Palliative Care Clients
- Maintain protocols and formal relationships with specialist service providers to ensure an integrated approach
- To work collaboratively with local palliative care services to capture the appropriate de-identified information
- To support the development of nursing staff through education and training to ensure continuity of care in the delivery of palliative care services
 - To improve the knowledge, skills and capacity of all stakeholders in management of Palliative Care clients
- Implement a comprehensive training and development program to ensure a quality service is provided to palliative care clients and their families 

The Aim of the Network is for a Palliative approach to care to be integrated into everyday practice in General Practice, local Acute Services, Community Health Services and Residential Aged Care Facilities.

Members of the Yorke Peninsula Link Nurse Network liaise with management, staff and other link nurses to: 

• act as a portal for enquiries and information to the Palliative Care Coordinator and GPs
• disseminate relevant clinical information to their colleagues and workplace
• attend educations sessions (to ensure that all Palliative Care link  nurses have the same knowledge foundation)
• be a knowledge base for support to colleagues
• distribute appropriate material
• ensure literature and brochures etc are available to all staff and families
• attend their local link nurse group

The Link Nurse Networks are established in the 3 regions of the Peninsula -  Northern, Central and Southern Yorke Peninsula in line with local services.  The members of the Networks all have a common interest in improving the service provision for Palliative clients in their areas.   

In January 2009 the Link Nurses identified a need for universal documentation and increased communication amongst all services and facilities.  Therefore the members of each Link Nurse Group have contributed to the development of the following local resources:

• Yorke Peninsula Palliative Care Service Directory
• Yorke Peninsula Bereavement Booklet
• Referral Pathway for Yorke and Lower North Palliative Care
• Palliative Care Clinical Pathway and Resources Folder (a resource that was based on the version developed by the Adelaide Hills Division in 2006)

All of these resources have been distributed to GPs, hospitals, community health services across the Yorke and Lower North Region.  Copies of the YP Palliative Care Service Directory and Bereavement Booklet are to be made available to Residential Aged Care Facilities by June 2011.

It is envisaged that the development and implementation of these resources will ensure consistency across all health services which will hopefully improve standard of care of the Palliative patient/client across the Yorke and Lower North Region. 

Where is Palliative Care Provided?
Palliative care can be provided to patients who are at home, in an aged care facility or in hospital.

Who Provides Palliative Care?

Your GP will be your first point of call for all medical management needs. 

Your GP may make referrals to medical specialists at different times but you will always remain under the direct care of your own GP.Your GP may also make referrals to Community Nurses and /or Allied Health Services (eg physio, social worker , occupational therapist) which are based at 3 centres across the Yorke Peninsula. 

You can access community nursing by phoning Healthlink on 1800 003 307. 

After referral, a nurse will contact you and make a time to come and visit you at home.  The nurse will explain the services they provide and give you their contact phone number.

Community Nurses provide the following palliative care:

*Home visits to provide:
- symptom management
- advocacy and support
- wound care
- personal care at end of life
- end stage care
- bereavement care 
*Loan of equipment such as shower chairs and mattress overlays

Home visits to provide:- symptom management- advocacy and support- wound care- personal care at end of life- end stage care- bereavement careLoan of equipment such as shower chairs and mattress overlays 

On the Yorke Peninsula the Local Palliative Care Coordinator can support your GP and Community Nurse to provide care for you in your home, at hospital or in a residential aged care facility.

A visiting palliative care specialist from the Lyell McEwin Health Service Palliative Care Department, provides expert consultancy by regular phone contact and visits to the Yorke and Lower North Area.  The frequency of these visits is determined by specialist staff availability and client need.