Areas Of Care
Palliative Care
What is Palliative Care?
Palliative care is the provision of specialised medical care for people diagnosed with advanced and life-limiting diseases such as organ failure or advanced cancer, with the goal of relieving symptoms and enhancing quality of life.
Palliative care can support patients at any stage of a life-limiting condition, not just end-of-life. It can be administered in a variety of settings – at home, or in nursing homes, community hospitals, hospices and acute hospitals.
When is professional help needed?
Living with a serious or life-limiting illness such as advanced cancer, heart or lung disease, or neurological conditions
At any stage of a serious illness — from diagnosis through to advanced stages
Preference for treatment focusing on comfort and improving quality of life
Managing side effects from treatment such as pain, fatigue, or breathlessness
Requiring emotional, social, or spiritual support for you or your family
Making important decisions about future care (advance care planning)
The SLH Difference
Comprehensive Care, Every Step of the Way
From hospital to home, we provide a full spectrum of palliative care services — ensuring seamless and continuous support throughout your care journey.
Holistic Care Philosophy
Our Clinical, Social, Pastoral care model addresses your physical, social and emotional needs, restoring you beyond wellness to wholeness.
Award-Winning Excellence
Nationally recognised for service quality and innovation, we deliver palliative care that maintains comfort and dignity.
Your Care, Our Collective Expertise
Our team of healthcare professionals works together to design a personalised care plan tailored to your unique needs.
Our Holistic Palliative Care Services
We focus on helping you live more comfortably, while giving you the freedom to make choices about your care.
- Symptom management, including pain, fatigue, breathlessness or nausea
- Enhancing quality of life with personalised medical and nursing support
- Nutritional counselling and tailored dietary advice
Our rehabilitation team supports patients in maintaining comfort, independence, and dignity through personalised therapy, including:
Physiotherapy
- Physical mobility assessment and intervention focusing on end-of-life management
- Symptom management
- Pain relief
- Airway clearance
Occupational Therapy
- Energy conservation
- Activity modification
- Meaningful activity engagement, e.g. creation of life book with family
Speech Therapy
- Enhance communication
- Support safe swallowing
- Foster self-expression
- Improve emotional well-being
- Support pain management
- Facilitate psycho-emotional processing
- Strengthen family relationships
- Pre-bereavement support
We journey with you and your family, offering practical, emotional and spiritual guidance along the way:
- Counselling and social work support to address emotional, practical and financial concerns
- Advance care planning to ensure your wishes are respected
- Celebrating special occasions with family and friends
We support families and caregivers with knowledge, guidance and emotional care, helping them find comfort and resilience in challenging times:
- Grief and bereavement support for families coping with loss
- Memorial services to honour and remember loved ones
- Counselling and support to strengthen emotional and financial well-being
Continuity of Care
At St Luke’s Hospital, we deliver holistic and personalised palliative care that extends beyond our wards. Our integrated services ensure a smooth transition from hospital to home, providing continuous support every step of the way.
Government Subsidy
If you’re a Singapore Citizen or Permanent Resident, you may qualify for subsidies based on the National Means Test.
Reach out to check your eligibility — we’re here to help.
Frequently Asked Questions About Palliative Care
Palliative care can be considered at any stage of a serious or life-limiting illness, not only at the end of life. It is helpful when symptoms such as pain, breathlessness, fatigue, or emotional distress begin to affect quality of life.
In Singapore, palliative care focuses on early initiation of care conversations, symptom management, comfort, and holistic support for patients and families. It can be provided alongside ongoing treatment in a community hospital, inpatient setting, clinic or home palliative care services, depending on individual needs.
Early involvement often improves comfort and overall quality of life.
No, palliative care is not only for end-of-life patients. At St Luke’s Hospital, it supports patients with serious illnesses at any stage by managing symptoms, providing emotional support, and improving quality of life alongside ongoing care. The vision is to provide proactive, rather than reactive care. The former approach would require proactive identification of palliative care needs and early intervention, which increases patients’ confidence and quality of care. The latter approach may result in repeated hospitalisations, unnecessary burden of treatment and caregiver stress. It is often too early until it is too late.
At St Luke’s Hospital, palliative care can start any time a patient has been identified to have a life limiting illness. Often, these patients have palliative care needs, including symptom management support, psychospiritual care, and advance care planning, alongside their ongoing treatment.
St Luke’s Hospital is not a government hospital. It is a community hospital and a voluntary welfare organisation (VWO) located in Bukit Batok, Singapore.
While it is not directly operated by the government, St Luke’s Hospital works closely with public healthcare institutions and receives government support and subsidies. This allows eligible patients to receive subsidised care.
