In-home health and aged care service provider Silver Chain Group has partnered with WA Health to provide overnight respite in palliative care for Western Australians.
Silver Chain CEO Dale Fisher (pictured) said the 12-month pilot would provide more than 1,000 occasions of overnight respite for carers of people receiving palliative care.
Ms Fisher said that while Silver Chain provided respite for carers during the day, there was a significant gap in overnight respite services across all service providers. Silver Chain’s specialised overnight service would be provided by skilled and experienced staff to care for people with progressive life-limiting illness, including people who may be very close to the end of their life.
“Trained nurses and support workers, who work as part of the specialist team, will go into the home and enable the carer to sleep. Carers will have peace of mind knowing their loved one is being looked after by someone who is clinically capable to manage palliative care respite, as distinct from other respite services.”
A second pilot program will enhance the referral process to improve access to the in-home palliative care service.
“We are pleased to co-design comprehensive services that better meet the needs of our clients and their carers. This initiative will further develop quality palliative care services that can be integrated across the full range of health and community care services in the future,” Ms Fisher added.
More than 3,000 Western Australians receive palliative care from Silver Chain every year, averaging 600 people per day.
