General Practitioners

Resources for General Practitioners

General practitioners may contact a local community palliative care service or a Regional Palliative Care Consultancy Service for advice and/or referral.

Hume Region Palliative Care Services

Listed below are but a few resources that may be useful to GP’s supporting clients, carers and families with life limiting illness, palliative or end of life care needs.

 

Hume region information brochures

For health professionals: Health Professionals Guide to PC Hume Region

For consumers: Palliative Care brochure Hume Region

Referral to palliative care services in the Hume Region

 

Palliative Care Advice Service

Specialist nurses and doctors provide information about serious illness and symptoms, being a caregiver and the palliative care service system. For healthcare workers, it offers guidance about prescribing, symptom management, locating appropriate services and decision-making.

The Parkville Integrated Palliative Care Service at The Royal Melbourne Hospital runs the service from 7am – 10pm, seven days a week.

To contact the Palliative Care Advice Service you can call 1800 360 000 or visit www.pcas.org.au for further information.

Palliative Care Advice Service Information Sheet

 

Anticipatory Medicines

Useful for anyone who provides palliative care for adults in inpatient and community settings, the guidance will help you support patients who:

  • have someone to care for them, or healthcare professionals who can administer some medications in the home
  • do not have any contraindications as listed in the guidance

Anticipatory medicines Statewide guidance for Victoria

 

Murray Primary Health Network – HealthPathways

HealthPathways is a free web-based portal that was officially launched in the Murray PHN catchment in November 2016. It’s available to be used by clinicians at the point of care, to access evidence-based, locally accessible patient pathways.

The North Western Melbourne Primary Health Network (NWMPHN) has produced a four page guide to Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) remuneration to support planned palliative care for patients. It includes separate sections for general practice and residential aged care and is neatly set out in a table format with MBS items and rebate levels.

Copies are available to download from the Murray PHN website:  MBS remuneration to support planned palliative care for patients by NWMPHN (pdf file)

 

CareSearch GP section

CareSearch GP Section Find practical information and resources on providing palliative care in general practice including:

 

palliAGED Apps / palliAGEDgp

The palliAGED apps provide nurses and GPs with easy and convenient access to information to help them care for people approaching the end of their life. Timely access to palliative care information can support the clinical care being provided.  An online-offline capacity means they can use the apps anywhere in Australia. As the app is web-based, it can be updated as new evidence and resources are released.

For more information and to download the Apps visit CareSearch palliAGED Apps

 

PEPA Clinical Placements for GP’s

Program of Experience in the Palliative Approach (PEPA) is a great opportunity to learn from palliative care specialists in a supported environment.

Placements are available in all Australian states and territories and applicants from rural and remote areas are encouraged to apply. Clinical placements could be in a specialist palliative care unit, acute hospital consultancy or in the community.