Monthly Archives: January 2016

guest interview – Soula Ganiatsas, Palliative Care Research Network Victoria

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Tell us about your job.

I am the program manager for the Palliative Care Research Network Victoria (PCRNV).

What does PCRNV do?

We try to gain funding to conduct clinical and community intervention research. The PCRNV also  provides an opportunity to network and collaborate with other palliative care researchers through PCRNV forums and workshops.

We also help with access to a variety of PCRNV funding schemes including; PhD scholarship, small project and travel grants. There can be support with developing your research idea into a potential project and grant proposals via the PCRNV Concept Development Workshops and also mentoring.

But, it’s not right to do research on people who are dying, is it? 

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#SHCR: An inspiring, free course that will help you change health care for the better

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When I first read Sonia’s post about the School for Health and Care Radicals (SHCR) a year ago, little did I know that I would be signing up for one of the most inspiring educational experiences of my ten years as a doctor, resulting in unexpected personal and professional growth.

“Anyone who wants to bring about change has to be ready to break the rules. But in health and social care, that can be really difficult. The art of rocking the boat while staying in it is something it seems no-one is ready to help you learn.” – School for Health and Care Radicals

 

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Working on my SHCR workbook – over coffee

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Family doctor involvement in palliative care: what’s its prognosis?

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I feel like such a fraud. What am I doing writing a guest post for Palliverse, when I am a doctor who rarely provides palliative care? My justification for writing here is that it’s this very sense of uncertainty and underqualification that I’m feeling which is the subject of my post.

I’m a “general practitioner” — a “GP” as we’re called here in Australia. If you’re reading this post from North America, think “family physician” — it means much the same thing — but for convenience I’ll use the term “GP” today.

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2015 in the Palliverse – conferences

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As we adjust to the New Year (hello 2016), Palliverse is looking back at some of our posts over the past year. Being palliative care nerds, Team Palliverse have been lucky to attend numerous Australian, New Zealand and international conferences over the past year. Click the links below to attend vicariously or relive some of them:

 

Stay tuned in 2016 for more conference updates – Team Palliverse are already begging for leave and furiously submitting abstracts. And if you are attending a conference that would be of interest to Palliverse readers, and would like to share a summary, please contact us!

To be alerted about new Palliverse posts, follow us on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn or hit the “Follow” button in the right-hand column to subscribe to email alerts.

 

NICE guidelines for end of life care

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The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) provides national guidance and advice to improve health and social care in the UK.

In response to the Neuberger report and the demise of the Liverpool Care Pathway, new evidence based guidelines have been developed.

This guideline includes recommendations on:

In my state, Victoria Australia, the VEC (Victorian End of life Coordinating Program) is undertaking similar work, and plans to release a Victorian end of life care plan soon.

In Australia, we have not had the negative stories and experiences seen in the UK; because the LCP was implemented in a better way? The stories coming out of the Neuberger report were shocking: I cannot imagine any patient being denied a drink when requested “because she is on the LCP”. However the LCP has also been withdrawn locally in response to the negative findings delivered in the UK.

I will be participating in a pilot of the new end of life care plans which will replace the LCP locally. I am looking forward to seeing the final version.

Thoughts, dear reader, about the terminal care of the LCP?