Palliative care provides support for people in our community with any type of advanced, progressive illness that no longer responds to curative treatment. This nursing and related services support aims to help patients Live Every Moment and improve the quality of life for patients and families through the prevention and relief of suffering, pain and other symptoms – physical, psychological, social and spiritual.
Eligibility for Palliative Care is for those with a life expectancy of approximately 12 months or less, and who need more support than the primary care teams alone can provide.
Lake Taupō Hospice accepts initial referrals from GPs, medical specialists and other healthcare professional agencies or directly from patients or their family/whanau. Each referral is assessed by our clinical staff in collaboration with the patient’s own doctor. Referrals are accepted through the process outlined in the Lake Taupo Hospice Specialist Palliative Care Services Admission/Transfer Process. Patients whose health status plateaus or stabilises may be discharged to primary care services and can be readmitted at any time .
This form is to used by prescribers (Doctors, Nurse Practitioners etc) to enable hospice community nurses and aged residential care nurses authority to administer medications already dispensed to patients. To download the most recent Community medication authority click on the link in the resources section.
Lake Taupō Hospice has a visiting palliative medicine specialist service for face-to-face consults at an outpatient clinic service, held at Lake Taupō Hospital or in the patients own home, once a month.
A Palliative Medicine Specialist is available for advice 24/7 via the Waikato Hospital switchboard on 07 839 8899 ask for the Palliative Specialist on duty/call.
To access Medical Palliative Care Specialist advice:
– contact Dr Denise Aitken at Lakes DHB Mon – Fri 9am to 4pm via the Rotorua Hospital switchboard (07) 348 1199, or by email denise.aitken@lakesdhb.govt.nz.
– if you are unable to contact Dr Denise Aitken during working hours (as above) or your enquiry is after-hours/weekend, please phone Waikato Hospital on (07) 839 8899 and ask for the on-duty or on-call palliative specialist.
For specialised palliative care nursing support and advice:
– Lake Taupo Hospice, Mon – Fri 8.30am to 5pm on (07) 377 4252 or 0800 920-004 after hours/weekends to speak to a nurse.
Project ECHO transforms the way education and knowledge is shared by connecting healthcare professionals in the Waikato area, especially those in our more remote communities.
Tele-ECHO clinics run for one hour each month and include 15 minutes of education presented by a topic expert, followed by one case-based interactive discussions. Each Tele-ECHO clinic is facilitated by a multidisciplinary specialist hub team on the third Thursday of every month.
To join any of the Tele-ECHO clinics please contact Andrea Jones: andrea.jones@hospicewaikato.org.nz
For more information and to view past recorded sessions, please go to the website: https://www.hospicewaikato.org.nz/education-item/project-echo
Lake Taupō Hospice Trust has adopted and endorsed the clinical symptom management guidelines utilised by the Waikato Regional Palliative Specialist Centre. These can be found in the Palliative Care Handbook: Guidelines for clinical management and symptom control 9th Edition 2019. Health care professionals are able to download a pdf version.
Additional palliative care information can be found on the Midland Community Health Pathways, which now also includes a palliative pathway.
