Palliative care – Cancer not required

The role of palliative care in the management of terminal non-malignant conditions is increasingly recognized. This study will illustrate the symptoms experienced and the difficulties that many treating units have with managing end of life care for these patients. This is a nine month retrospective case review of patients without cancer referred to the palliative care consultation service at a regional metropolitan hospital. 115 patients without cancer were seen during this period, representing 44% of the total assessments. The most common reasons for referral were symptom control and end of life care; 78 patients died. The most frequent diagnoses included dementia, stroke and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The functions performed by the service will be discussed, in particular symptom control, end of life care, and clarification of treatment goals. Patients with end stage non-malignant illness suffer many symptoms that are often poorly identified and managed. The palliative care consultation service provides considerable assistance to teams who struggle with the management of these patients, in particular commencing medication infusionsand ceasing unnecessary interventions.