Please use the dedicated referral form provided below:
Palliative Care is specialized medical care that focuses on improving the quality of life of patients and their families who are facing challenges associated with life-threatening illnesses like cancer or advanced stages of conditions like heart failure, COPD, chronic kidney disease, or neurologic diseases.
Palliative care focuses on relieving physical symptoms such as pain, shortness of breath, nausea, fatigue, sleep disturbances, and anxiety/depression that are troubling to patients. It also focuses on emotional and spiritual concerns, as well as practical aspects of accessing supports for living as well as possible with advanced illness. Palliative care can also help with advance care planning and goals of care, and provide support around transitions of care.
Palliative care may be useful with anyone with an advanced or life-threatening illness and can be provided alongside treatments focused on the underlying illness (like chemotherapy, radiation, surgery, or medications); palliative care can be provided early in the disease trajectory but if a patient is approaching the end of their life, palliative care can provide hospice or end-of-life care and support the bereavement of the family.
Our team as a consultation service in conjunction with other health care providers, such as primary care physicians and nurse practitioners, oncologists, and medical specialists. Our team includes physicians, nurses, and has access to other health resources such as social workers, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, dieticians, spiritual care providers (dependant on care location).
Palliative Care Pathways
Palliative care works best when started early in a serious illness journey. Palliative care can be provided in the following settings:
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Inpatient
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Outpatient (clinics) or
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Home (including retirement homes and long-term care facilities)
Palliative Medicine Office Contact
Office Hours (M-F 0800-1600)
Centralized Referral number: Phone 613-548-2485, Fax 613-548-2361
After Hours (For Physicians and Nurse Practitioners looking for advice)
Call KHSC Switchboard: Phone 613-548-3232, press 8 and ask for the palliative attending physician on call.
eConsult
If you have questions about how your patient should be managed, please send a Palliative eConsult and a Palliative specialist will respond within 3 business days. The eConsult platform includes an option for you to request the Palliative specialist to call you back to discuss more complex cases.
For primary care providers wanting to access eConsult, please visit: www.seamo.ca/digital-health/econsults/primary-care
For primary care providers who have already signed up for eConsult, please visit: https://otnhub.ca/
For more information and eConsult resources, please visit: eConsult Centre of Excellence.
