What is Palliative Care?

Palliative care is person-centred, holistic care which supports a person’s physical, psychological, emotional and spiritual wellbeing. It can help to improve or maintain quality of life following a diagnosis of a life-limiting illness. 

This care is provided by a Primary Care Team made up of general practitioners (GPs), public health nurses (PHNs), community physiotherapists, community occupational therapists (OTs), psychologists, social workers and a range of other community-based staff. This team may also be supported by the Community Palliative Care team. 

Learn more about palliative care, including information and support in additional languages, on our ‘What is Palliative Care’ webpage 

Primary Palliative Care in Ireland

The development of primary palliative care services in Ireland has evolved significantly over the last 20 years. In 2009 Irish Hospice Foundation came together with the Irish College of General Practitioners (ICGP) and the HSE to develop a joint programme of work to support primary palliative care in Ireland and has continued this through the Primary Palliative Care Programme.

Ireland’s first National Adult Palliative Care Policy was developed in 2001. The National Clinical Programme for Palliative Care was established in 2010 with a Model of Care for Palliative Care published in 2019.  The current National Adult Palliative Care Policy was launched by Minister Stephen Donnelly in September 2024. The policy aims to strengthen and develop palliative care services in Ireland to ensure all patients with a life-limiting illness, and their families, can access the appropriate care where and when they need it. The policy aims to strengthen and develop palliative care services in Ireland to ensure all patients with a life-limiting illness, and their families, can access the appropriate care where and when they need it. There are many recommendations in the new policy that place emphasis on core activities aimed to enhance primary palliative care in Ireland.

Primary Palliative Care Programme

The Primary Palliative Care Programme aims to identify initiatives that will help all community-based health care professionals deliver enhanced Palliative Care to their patients at home.  The patient’s home may be in a family home, nursing home or other setting where the patient is living

In 2011,  to inform the work of the Palliative Care Programme, Irish Hospice Foundation, the Health Service Executive and the Irish College of General Practitioners conducted a survey to seek the views of community based healthcare professionals with regard to primary care delivery.  This led to a report with a series of recommendations.  Read the report. 

A Primary Palliative Care  Steering Committee was established based on the recommendations out of the report, bringing together representatives from primary care, specialist palliative care, and the HSE’s Palliative Care Programme. This committee oversees the implementation of the recommendations prioritised in the report. A key project that came out of the Primary Palliative Care Programme included the re-establishment of a certificate course in Palliative Care for GPs with ICGP which was supported by the HSE.