Inpatient Care
St. Paul’s Hospital Palliative Care Unit
The Palliative Care Unit (PCU) is located on the 10th floor at St Paul’s Hospital – Providence Building.
It is a 12-bed unit that focuses on the acute care needs of those people living with life-limiting illness. It is a place where complex pain and other symptoms can be investigated, diagnosed and treated. Once symptoms are brought under control, a determination is made as to where the best location for future care might be. The options for ongoing care include hospices, residential care facilities or back to one’s own home.
The PCU is staffed with a team of health care professionals.
- Physicians are available every day of the week and on-call at night and on weekends.
- Registered and Licensed Practical nurses provide care to patients based on the acuity of needs and scope of professional practice of each nurse.
- Spiritual health practitioner, social worker, occupational and physical therapists, dietician and pharmacist work with each patient and family to ensure the best care possible is delivered.
Students of all professional groups are welcome to the PCU, to encourage an opportunity for learners to understand how to deliver acute palliative care. If this is of interest to you, please refer to our contact page for more info on how to be in touch with us.
There are also a number of trained volunteers who assist with a number of services and provide extra support. If this is of interest, please refer to our volunteers page.