About Pcis
The Palliative Care Information Service is funded by Queensland Health but managed and operated by Karuna Hospice Services. A team of consultants with counselling and nursing experience operate the call-centre between 9am and 5pm Monday to Friday.
Karuna is a not-for-profit public benevolent institution and registered charity formed by health professionals and community members in 1991. Karuna’s philosophy is based on Buddhist principles of love and compassion. The name Karuna is from the Sanskrit meaning ‘compassion’. Karuna is an affiliated with Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition Australia (FPMT).
Why was the Palliative Care Information Service set up?
Most people with a life-limiting illness want to spend as much time as possible in their own home surrounded by those they love. In the future Queenslanders of all ages will require some form of Palliative Care. The Palliative Care 1800 information line was established in December 2000 as a pilot project to provide information to people requiring palliative care services along with their family, friends, carers and clinicians. A consortium consisting of Royal Brisbane Hospital, Karuna Hospice Services, The Prince Charles Hospital, Queensland University of Technology, and Brisbane North Division of General practice Association Inc was awarded the contract to establish and operate the Centre for Palliative Care Research and Education. The Palliative Care Information Service was the first project of the consortium.