Palliative care

Palliative care can help improve your quality of life and manage your symptoms if you have a condition, illness or disease that is progressive and cannot be cured. This is sometimes called a life-limiting illness.

Palliative care provides a broad service often over a long period of time. You can get palliative care at any age and at any stage of your illness. It aims to improve your ability to continue your daily activities and hobbies.

End-of-life care is an important part of palliative care but usually starts when a patient is in the last year of life.

Palliative care is for your well-being of and that of your family and your carers and can include:

• Physical support
• Psychological support
• Social support
• Spiritual support
• Bereavement support

The Health Service Executive (HSE) is responsible for providing palliative care services.

You may be referred to palliative care services if you have been diagnosed with a life-limiting condition such as cancer, heart failure or motor neuron disease.

You can get different types of palliative care depending on your needs. You may need more specialised palliative care through a specialist team as your illness progresses. The HSE decides what type of palliative care you need.

You may be given palliative care in:

• Your own home by home-care nurses working with your family doctor and a specialist palliative care team if needed
• A hospice which is a specialist palliative care unit
• A general hospital by a specialist palliative care team
• A community hospital or nursing home, by home-care nurses working with your family doctor and specialist palliative care teams

The availability of palliative care varies across the different counties in Ireland.

The Irish Association for Palliative Care have a map of palliative care services in each county.

Hospice care is provided in a hospice unit. This unit provides specialist palliative care. Other services are developed around the unit such as:

• In-patient care
• Day care
• Community palliative care
• Out-patient care and bereavement services.

You may be referred for specialist palliative care in a hospice if you have a progressive, life-limiting condition and your needs become, or you are expected to become, more difficult to manage.

Find out how to get a referral for palliative care below.

There are 14 hospice units in Ireland. They are located in:

• Cork
• Donegal
• Dublin (4 hospice units)
• Galway
• Kerry
• Kildare
• Limerick
• Mayo
• Roscommon
• Sligo
• Wicklow

Palliative care is free for all patients and their families in Ireland. You do not need a medical card. If you have private medical insurance, your insurer may be asked to contribute towards the cost of your care.

Palliative care for children is delivered differently from the palliative care services for adults.

Palliative care for children is usually provided at home. In the home, your family is supported by your family doctor, public health nurse and the specialist palliative care team if it is provided.

In hospitals, staff trained in paediatrics provide medical and nursing care for your child. Staff are supported by the specialist palliative care service.

You can find information on palliative care for your child on The Palliative Hub for Children and Young People.

You can get a referral to palliative care as soon as a diagnosis is made. You can be referred for palliative care services by:

• Your family doctor
• Your hospital doctor in consultation with your family doctor
• The hospital’s specialist palliative care team in consultation with your family doctor

You can talk to these healthcare specialists about getting a referral to palliative care services.

You can plan for the type of medical or surgical treatment you want or don’t want using an Advance Healthcare Directive.

You can also arrange a power of attorney. This is a legal device you can set up to appoint somebody specific to act on your behalf when you are no longer able to manage your own affairs.

The Irish Hospice Foundation’s Think Ahead programme helps people to think about and plan for the end of their lives.

The HSE is responsible for providing palliative care services in Ireland. Contact your Local Health Office for more information.

The Irish Association for Palliative Care provides a map of palliative care services in each county.

The Palliative Hub has information and resources on palliative care on the island of Ireland for adults, children, families and carers.

You may qualify for a medical card depending on the stage of your illness. Your consultant, GP or social worker can apply for it.

You can also get support from the: