Royal Children's Hospital Palliative Care
Oncology
The Queensland Children's Cancer Centre, based at the Royal Children's Hospital, provides educational and clinical resources for paediatric oncology palliative care patients. The Unit has written two books on paediatric oncology palliative care. The first book A Practical Guide to Paediatric Oncology Palliative Care was written in 1999 and is for health professionals. This book has been revised in 2008 by a National Reference Group for Paediatric Palliative Care and will be available in 2009. The second book, Palliative Care for Children with Cancer - A Parents’ Guide was published in 2002. These books are aimed at assisting local health professionals and parents with the challenging task of caring for children who can not be cured of their disease.
A Paediatric Oncology Palliative Care Outreach Nursing Service was established in 2000. The service is available for patients of RCH and District Health Service receiving palliative care for progressive malignant disease. The patient’s local paediatrician, GP and domiciliary nurses provide primary care, with the outreach service providing a consultative supportive role. The service provides 24-hour phone support and home visits to patients within a 30 minute drive from RCH. Online health is also used to facilitate communication with the local treating teams. The Oncology Unit has also been investigating the use of Internet technologies in the children’s home since 2003 in collaboration with the University of Queensland’s Centre for Online Health.
Non-malignant life limiting conditions
The hospital is currently extending the Palliative Care Service so that it will also support children with non-malignant life limiting conditions. A Staff Specialist in Paediatric Palliative Care was appointed in 2008 and there are plans to develop an inter-disciplinary team which will provide palliative care expertise in a consultative manner, working alongside the child or young person’s primary medical team. The service will aspire to meet the Standards devised by Palliative Care Australia. These standards have been modified for paediatric practice and are currently being adopted by the National Reference Group for Paediatric Palliative Care. The Royal Children’s Hospital is a member of this group.
Our goal is to achieve the best possible quality of life for our patients and their families. Our service acknowledges that many aspects of palliative care can be applied earlier in the course of the illness, in conjunction with treatment. This includes pain management, management of other symptoms and the need to offer consistent psychological, social and spiritual support. The provision of palliative care services will also include grief and bereavement support for the family and other carers during the life of the patients / clients, and continuing after death with the family.
For further information on these resources please contact:
Dr Anthony Herbert
Staff Specialist in Paediatric Palliative Care
Royal Children’s Hospital, Brisbane
Ph (07) 3636 1357
Email Anthony_Herbert@health.qld.gov.au
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