Palliative Care
What is Palliative Care?
Palliative Care has been defined by NICE as follows:
"Palliative Care is the active holistic care of patients with advanced progressive illness. Managament of pain and other symptoms and provision of psychological, social and spiritual support is paramount. The goal of palliative care is acheivement of the best quality of life for patients and their families. Many aspects of palliative care are also applicable earlier in the course of the illness in conjunction with other treatments."
The goal of palliative care is to improve quality of life, by increasing comfort, promoting dignity and providing a support system to the patient and those close to them.
Palliative care can be delivered in any care setting including home, care homes, hospitals and hospices. Palliative care can be provided by any health or social care professional involved in the day to day care of the patient. Some professionals specialize in palliative care and can provide additional support to patients.
Palliative Care in the Greater Midlands Cancer Network
The menu selection on the left hand side of this page will direct you to all of the local palliative care services available in the different areas of the Greater Midlands Cancer Network.
The documents below are all approved network wide dosuments for Palliative Care services and can be viewed/downloaded by clicking on any of the links below.
guidelines_for_management_of_diabetes_mellitus
Guidelines for Communication of Significant News
Palliative and Supportive Care IOG
Service Specification January 2011 - Psychological Services
End of Project Report PDP Sept 2011