Only a small proportion of patients need to be seen by a palliative care medical specialist. Most can be managed by their general practitioner and their existing specialists – for example oncologist, general physicians and geriatricians.

Those patients for whom advice from, or review by, a Palliative Medicine Physician may be useful include:

- refractory symptom management including pain control, nausea/vomiting, constipation, delirium etc
- assistance with end of life decision making (i.e. withdrawal of treatment, artificial hydration etc)
- advance care planning
- management /referral of patients/carers with profound existential distress, grief or bereavement issues

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id.