title: Running and setting up a Renal Supportive Care program.
abstract: To date no consistent model of care has been available for supporting patients and their families on a conservative non-dialysis pathway. Broadly speaking the United Kingdom appears to have embraced this pathway more than most other countries but even there, there are divergent views on what models of care should be implemented. One model, developed at St. George hospital in Sydney, is as follows: The RSC team oversees a program deliberately titled 'HOPE: Helping Older Patients with End-stage kidney disease'. The multidisciplinary team (MDT) is essentially an integration of Renal and Palliative Medicine, utilising the skills of both disciplines to ensure optimum nephrology care whilst adding a focus on symptom control, holistic physical and spiritual care and, when appropriate, the facilitation of a 'good death'.
authors.affiliation: Depts Renal Medicine and Medicine, St George Hospital and University of NSW, Sydney, NSW.
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.affiliation: Palliative Care Service, Dept General Medicine, North Shore and Waitakere Hospitals, Waitemata District Health Board, Auckland, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Cathy
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Miller