Sunshine Coast
Area Supported
The Sunshine Coast Hub Specialist Palliative Care Rural Telehealth Service aims to support clinicians caring for palliative patients extending North to Gladstone and westward from Boulia down to Birdsville capturing the HHS of Central West, Central Queensland and Wide Bay.
Rockhampton Specialist Palliative Care Team provide support to Rockhampton and Capricorn Coast.
Contact details
Phone: 1300 184 432
Email: scruralpallcare@health.qld.gov.au
For immediate clinical advice:
24/7 - PallConsult 1300 PALLDR (1300 725537) advice hotline. Doctors and nurse practitioners needing palliative and end-of-life care advice can also phone 1300 PALLDR to speak directly with a palliative medicine specialist.
Make a referral
Patients who will be considered for specialist palliative care support will be those patients with terminal illnesses and considered to have a prognosis of less than a year.
- Download our referral form through HealthPathways
- Fax the referral to (07) 5470 5243. If it is urgent, please call 1300 184 432 to discuss.
- You will be contacted by our admin staff to organise a time convenient to you.
Support can be provided for:
- Symptoms with which the primary care team require further advice to manage optimally
- Psychosocial needs that require specialist assessment
- Supporting a patient approaching the dying stage and requesting further guidance on medications and caregiver advice
- Support applications for MASS Palliative Care Equipment Program
Regrettably the service cannot support patients who have chronic pain issues nor complex psychosocial and psychiatric needs if the prognosis is considered more than 12 months.
Our team
- Clinical Lead - Dr Prem Ram
- Senior Medical Officer - Dr Matthew Cooper
- Junior Doctor - Dr Lee Adamthwaite (PHO)
- Clinical Nurse Consultant - Sharon Adams
- Pharmacist – Ben Newman
- Administrative Officers - Carly Shelton & Wendy Burke
Arranging a Telehealth Appointment
- Download our referral form through HealthPathways
- Fax the referral to (07) 5470 5243. If it is urgent, please call 1300 184 432 to discuss.
- You will be contacted by our admin staff to organise a time convenient to you.
New telehealth consults should preferably occur alongside a visiting clinician be it the General Practitioner, Clinician or Nurse Practitioner.
Once a date and time has been organised by our helpful staff, we will contact the patient to go through an assessment form the day prior. An up-to-date list of medications is important to have available.
On the day of the telehealth consult we will connect to your device either through a laptop, tablet, or smartphone. Our administrative staff will test the call prior to ensure connectivity is good.
After the appointment, an appropriate future telehealth review can be arranged with the community nurses at the patient home or facility.
Nurses will contact critical patients within a 48-72hr timeframe to ensure that all questions were answered and assess effective treatment.
This incredibly important service will be evaluated alongside the University of Queensland, Centre of Online Health which may approach you and/or the patient following your consent.
Specialist Palliative Care Rural Telehealth hopes to support rural and remote Queenslanders and their talented clinicians who work locally. Together we will work hard to keep patients where they prefer to be with the right care at their incredibly important time of life.
