Departments in UHK

Palliative Care

Kerry Specialist Palliative Care Service provides specialist palliative care to the people of Kerry across all core settings, Hospitals, Community, Day services and Inpatient Unit.

Key Services

We have a Specialist Palliative Care Inpatient Unit (IPU) with a 15 bed (all single rooms) Day Service with a Consultant led Multi-Disciplinary Team, outpatient services, day hospital and therapeutic day services

In our Community Specialist Palliative Care Team there are 2 teams, North Kerry & South Kerry- the North Kerry team is based in Tralee in the Kerry Specialist Palliative Care building and South Kerry’s office base is in Killarney in St Columbanus. They provide a 7 day service in support of GP’s, Public Health Nurses, Community hospitals and Nursing homes. The Kerry Specialist Palliative Care Service (KSPCS) provided is currently lead by two consultants, 24/7 on-call service which has proven of immense value to the hospital and community in improving palliative care services.  The service is currently provided in the following settings:

• Specialist Palliative In Patient Unit 

• Specialist Palliative Day Care Service

• Specialist Palliative Community Care Service

• Specialist Palliative Acute Care Service

Specialist Palliative Care In Patient Unit

There is a 15 bed specialist inpatient palliative unit in Kerry which opened in December 2017 and like the DCU is also attached to UHK.  Patients are admitted to the Inpatient Unit for complex symptom management and end of life care that cannot be met in other settings. Staffing of the unit includes a CNM II, CNM Is, RGNs, healthcare assistants, porters, clerical staff, Allied Health Professionals including occupational therapy, physiotherapy, pastoral care,  speech and language therapy, medical  social worker and dietician. 

Community Specialist Palliative Care Service

The Kerry Community Specialist Palliative Care Service is delivered by two teams. The two teams are attributed to the large geographical spread of the county and its population.  The North Kerry team is based in the Specialist Palliative Care Unit in UHK delivering a service to North Kerry and a second team is based in Killarney Community Hospital delivering a service to South Kerry.  

It is a seven day service in the patient’s place of residence.  This may be the patients home, community hospital or private nursing home.  In the community the specialist palliative care team work closely with the General Practitioner, Public Health Nurse, community hospitals and nursing homes.

Specialist Palliative Day Care Service

The Specialist Palliative Day Care Unit is located on the grounds of UHK and opened in 2007.  The service provides a mixed medical/social/supportive model of care. Staffing of the unit includes a CNM II, RGNs, healthcare assistants, porter, administration staff, Allied Health Professionals including occupational therapy, physiotherapy, pastoral care and speech and language therapy, social worker and dietician. Specialist Palliative Day Care offers complimentary therapies two days a week and sessions with a psychotherapist. The service also provides volunteer services including hairdressing, beauty therapy and creative arts. 

Acute Specialist Palliative Care Service

The acute specialist palliative care service includes a Consultant in Palliative Medicine, Registrar, Senior House Officer, one Advanced Nurse Practitioner, one Social Worker and access to administrative support.