Patient Information
Otago Community Hospice is an Otago-wide community-based service providing specialist palliative care services free of charge to those who are faced with terminal illness. We have a holistic philosophy of care, based on the Mà„ori model known as Te Whare Tapa Wha (the four cornerstones of health). This means we look after the whole person: physically, emotionally, socially, culturally and spiritually. We affirm life and believe in making the most of it, neither hastening nor postponing death. We deliver this holistic care via a multidisciplinary team, whose members include Community Care Coordinators (who are specialists in palliative care), palliative specialist doctors, counsellors, a social worker, an occupational therapist and a spiritual care coordinator.
Otago Community Hospice is a euthanasia-free service, therefore does not provide any form of assisted dying. However, our palliative care team will continue to provide expert palliative care to patients, whatever choices they make at the end of life.
We have four community teams based in Dunedin, Central Otago, North Otago and South Otago. We also have an Inpatient Unit in North East Valley, Dunedin. Mostly care is provided where the patient lives, for example in their own home or in a residential facility. Some of our patients are cared for as inpatients, either in our dedicated Hospice facility or in partnership with community hospitals throughout the Otago region. In the community, we work closely with primary palliative care providers, such as GPs, District Nurses, hospital and other community-based health teams.