Eligibility
All patients must be referred by a medical officer/nurse practitioner.
Mandatory referral criteria:
- The patient/substitute decision maker consents to specialist palliative care involvement
- The patient has a medically-diagnosed, advanced and progressing life-limiting condition that will cause death in the foreseeable future. Review:
End-of-Life Care Framework (PDF, 98.25 KB). The patient will be experiencing issues that have not been able to be managed by the GP or other teams. These may include:- complex symptoms and/or
- psychological issues and/or
- functional decline and safety issues in the home
- complex carer issues.
- The patient is not receiving curative treatment
- The patient has a documented Advance Care Plan or Acute Resuscitation Plan. (Please note: if the patient is for CPR then he/she will be triaged for a palliative care consultation only. If the patient is not for CPR then the patient may be triaged for consultation, shared care or direct care as appropriate).
If a patient does not meet all mandatory referral criteria and the medical officer/nurse practitioner still wants the patient considered for referral to MSPCS, then the medical officer/nurse practitioner must telephone the MSPCS team in their area.
For patients based in the community:
- The patient must reside within the designated geographical area serviced by MSPCS
- No other specialist palliative care service is involved in the patient’s community care
- The patient must have ongoing involvement from their GP.
For patients based in hospital:
- Inpatients can be referred to MSPCS from any hospital in Metro South Health.
- For patients associated with Princess Alexandra Hospital, QEII, Logan, Beaudesert or Redland Hospitals:
- If the referring team is providing follow-up treatment in one of the above hospitals, the MSPCS will see the patient in an OPD clinic closest to the hospital
- If the patient has completed their hospital treatments, is not receiving further follow-up by hospital treating teams and is returning home to an area outside the Metro South region then the patient is not eligible for referral to MSPCS. Please refer to the local palliative care team in the patient's residential area.
- No other specialist palliative care service is involved in the patient’s community care.
For patients based in a Residential Aged Care Facility: