No Tuesday is The Same...

Tuesdays at Dunstan Hospital, Clyde.

Some of you may not be aware of the generous funding from Central Lakes Trust but it has enabled us to extend our Otago Community Hospice care coordination into Dunstan Hospital.

Every Tuesday, you'll find me starting the day at the MDT meeting as part of my role as CNS for the Central Otago team.

From there, I spend as much time as needed liaising with hospital staff and community healthcare services to ensure that we're helping the team at Dunstan to deliver seamless palliative care delivery for people we support and whānau in our Central Otago Region.

The MDT meeting provides the key link between Otago Community Hospice and the team at Dunstan. In that meeting, we discuss complex patient needs, do care planning, and review service coordination. I'm then in the right place to have conversations with multiple people at one location - a rare and valuable opportunity for those of us who usually drive hundreds of kilometers between each meeting.

Every Tuesday is different. I love this about the role. But here's a taste of the things I typically focus on.

• Supporting delicate conversations between Dunstan staff and families about advanced care planning.

• Providing advice and support around symptom management in the palliative care setting.

• Liaising closely with District Nurses, Social Workers, Allied Health teams, and the Cancer Psychosocial Support Team.

• Coordinating care for Hospice community patients who require inpatient admission to Dunstan Hospital.

• Facilitating pre-emptive prescribing and discharge planning to support safe transitions of care.

• Linking palliative care education services to new and existing Dunstan nursing / medical staff.

• Participating in Allied Health and steering group meetings to strengthen service integration and improve patient outcomes.

The work we do right across Central Otago is important, rewarding and, as mentioned above, clocks up the kilometers fast. The Central Otago team has worked really hard to build a relationship with the team at Dunstan. Now, being able to walk the length of the ward at Dunstan and have multiple conversations with Dunstan colleagues, whānau and people known to Hospice or not, all in the space of a few hours, means that we are able to "join the dots" much faster for people needing hospice care in our district. This collaborative approach helps ensure patients receive timely, coordinated, and person-centred palliative care across both community and inpatient settings.

A big thank you to Central Lakes Trust for their support, and to the team at Dunstan Hospital for excellent collaboration and communication.