Bendigo Health has one palliative care consultant, Dr Rebecca Chapman, who is also an oncologist and who is available Monday-Thursday.

Referrals to hospice can be made at anytime by discussing the case with the nurse in charge of hospice. They may accept the patient themselves if the patient is known to the service or may ask for you to talk to the on call specialist. From Monday to Thursday this is generally Becky Chapman. At other times this is covered by the GEM physicians as hospice and GEM are co-located at the Anne Caudel Centre (the non-acute campus down Lucan street).

Hospice at Bendigo will take patients who are a little more acute than some hospices will.

Palliative Care and Hospice is not limited to cancer patients but they do make up the bulk of the workload. Respiratory failure and cardiac failure patients are difficult to manage in hospice because of the relapsing and remitting nature of these illnesses.

Cases that are well managed by hospice include cancer patients with constipation, nausea, pain or imminent death. Massive ICH in a non-cancer patient that is being expectantly managed is also appropriate to refer to hospice.

Hospice is not appropriate for patients requiring placement or for patients who have had recent chemotherapy and are not being managed expectantly (there is no capacity for isolation of neutropenics).