An article written by Dawn Hooper, San Palliative Care Nurse Practitioner

The San is now able to offer a much needed community palliative care service made possible thanks to the San Foundation's generous donor.

San Palliative Care Nurse Practitioners Dawn Hooper and Julie Edwards are now able to review patients in their home.

The San Foundation investment in the expansion of the community palliative care service has a three-pronged approach. Firstly, to provide patients with a life-limiting illness a choice as to where they have their care needs met. Secondly, to reduce the incidents of avoidable admission and re-admission to the acute care setting for end of life symptoms. And thirdly, cost effective private health fund alternatives to hospital admission.

I would like to acknowledge Barbara Ward from The San Foundation for generously providing funding assistance which enabled presentation of the work undertaken by the Sydney Adventist Hospital Palliative Care Service at the NSW Palliative Care Conference at Broken Hill NSW in October 2016.

The theme of my presentation abstract highlighted the positive impact of the San's Community Palliative Care Nurse Practitioners in supporting patients and their caregivers to express their preferences for end of life care in their home or at the San.

The San, through the San Foundation, is the only private organisation in the northern Sydney area to provide this service.

A message from a community member in support of the program - "After C's cancer was found to be unresponsive to chemotherapy and after subsequent palliative treatment in the San was ineffective, she decided she would prefer to be looked after at home as long as I could manage. We were contacted at home by Dawn Hooper and subsequently by Julie Edwards. I cannot praise enough the caring and reassuring support given by these ladies to help me care for C at home until she passed away. It would have been impossible for me without the excellent home nursing and respite services that Dawn and Julie arranged. I will never forget their kindness and compassion."