fernlea’s future in question

I was invited to attend an emergency meeting of Fernlea House with their committee to discuss Fernlea’s ongoing future. Readers may recall that Fernlea House had their funding withdrawn from the Federal Government earlier this year and had to close in a six week time frame. After one of their volunteers called 3AW and the issue gained significant media attention the federal government did a quick turnaround and Fernlea got a reprieve, but only till the end of this financial year.

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Pictured left to right: Ann Davis - President Fernlea House, Helen Pike - Nurse/Manager Fernlea House, Charles 'Bud' Tingwell and me.
Ann and Helen play an instrumental role at Fernlea House, their passion and drive for what they do is inspiring.

Fernlea House offers a very special palliative care service for our community. It is not a clinical model of service but a social respite model that cares for people diagnosed with a life limiting illness. Since opening in 2005, their service has flourished and offers social respite as a free service for up to six guests a day, three days a week. They also offer bereavement support, home visits, assisted memoir writing, community education and extensive training programs for volunteers.

What I find significant about Fernlea is their dedicated pool of volunteers, numbering in excess of fifty at any given point in time.


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Because Fernlea House provide social respite and aren’t connected to a large health service to provide in-patient clinical palliative care the Victorian Department of Human Services have advised them that it is not a priority to fund day hospices. I think this is a travesty for those in our community who visit Fernlea House.

One of the stand out things for me about Fernlea is its ability to make guests comfortable and at ease, many guests enjoy a meal together and will happily eat, a rare experience for those with a life limiting illness.

I have no doubt that Fernlea House fills a critical need in our community for those with life limiting illness and I will continue to be a strong advocate for Fernlea House and the social respite model they practice.