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.

Details of Kerry Specialist Palliative Care Service

The Kerry Specialist Palliative Care Service (KSPCS) provided is currently led by three 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 Inpatient Unit
• Specialist Palliative Community Care Service
• Specialist Palliative Ambulatory Day Service
• Specialist Palliative Acute Care Service

Specialist Palliative Care Inpatient Unit

There is currently a 15 bed Specialist Palliative Care Inpatient Unit (IPU) in Kerry which opened in December 2017 and it is co-located to UHK. KSPCS is currently in Phase 3 Development building works, including a phase increase bed capacity to 20 beds, building works will be completed in 2027.  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 CNM III, CNM II, CNM Is, RGNs, Healthcare Assistants, Porters, Administration Staff, Allied Health Professionals including Pharmacist, Occupational Therapists, Physiotherapists, Pastoral Care, Speech and Language Therapy, Medical Social Workers and Dietician.

It provides an out of hours telephone advisory service to Healthcare Professionals in the Community, UHK and also to the catchment population of UHK.

Community Specialist Palliative Care Service

The Kerry Community Specialist Palliative Care Service is delivered by two teams due to the large geographical spread of the county. There are 2 bases, one in the Specialist Palliative Care Unit UHK covering North Kerry and the second base in Killarney Community Hospital delivering a service to South Kerry. The community nursing team includes a CNM III, Clinical Nurse Specialists (CNSs) and two Registered Advanced Nurse Practitioners (RANPs) whose roles are to support the Residential Care Facilities in the Community Services. In 2026, a new ANP will be recruited to join the community team.

This service delivers a seven-day service to patients in their place of residence. This may be the patient’s home, community hospital or private nursing home.  In the community, the Specialist Palliative Care Team work closely with the General Practitioners, Public Health Nursing Team, Primary Care Team and Residential Care Facilities.

Specialist Palliative Day Service

The Specialist Palliative Day Service Unit is co-located to UHK and opened in 2007.  The service provides a mixed medical/social model of care. Staffing of the unit includes a CNM II, CNM1, RGNs, Healthcare Assistants, Porters, Administration Staff, Allied Health Professionals including Pharmacist, Occupational Therapists, Physiotherapists, Pastoral Care, Speech and Language Therapy, Medical Social Workers and Dietician. There is a CNM III for the IPU and Day Service. Specialist Palliative Day Care offers Complimentary Therapies and Psychotherapy sessions. The service also provides volunteer services including hairdressing.

Acute Specialist Palliative Care Service- University Hospital Kerry

The Acute Specialist Palliative Care Service includes Consultants in Palliative Medicine, SPRs/Registrar, Senior House Officers, Advanced Nurse Practitioner, Clinical Nurse Specialist, Social Worker and Administration support. It provides a 24-hour service, 7 days a week.