We have very few global landmarks in the evolution of palliative care. So when a new one comes along it is important to take note, to reflect, and to consider the implications. The report of the Lancet Commission on Pain and Palliative Care is such a work. I was fortunate to be asked to join… Continue reading
Our latest study on the provision of palliative care in Scotland has a focus on the delivery of specialist services. We recognise of course that much palliative care is also delivered in non-specialist settings: in general practices, across hospitals, in care homes, and in the community. A big driver within the Scottish Government’s 2015 Strategic… Continue reading
As Christmas approached in December 1965, Cicely Saunders could look back on a year of considerable achievement. After seven years, she had decided to leave St Joseph’s Hospice in Hackney, where she had learned in-depth the craft of caring for dying patients. She was now devoting the whole of her time to the planning of… Continue reading
I have had close links with Hospice UK for many years, serving first as a Trustee and now as a Vice-President. So it was a real honour to be invited to give the opening plenary at the charity’s annual conference in Liverpool, in a splendid riverside setting overlooking the Mersey. The timing was good too. … Continue reading
I have been interested in the history of palliative care for over 20 years. I first got going on this work with Neil Small by conducting interviews with hospice founders in the United Kingdom and we then collaborated with Michelle Winslow and Nic Hughes on a general interest book about hospice pioneers. Later I worked… Continue reading
Great Lives is a much-loved biographical programme on Radio 4, the BBC’s current affairs and factual radio network. I have often listened to Great Lives at home or in the car and always enjoy the choice of subject, the perspectives of the contributors and the ideas that flow between them. At the time of writing this… Continue reading
When I first became seriously interested in the life and works of Cicely Saunders, back in 1995, I asked Dame Cicely for a copy of her CV. I noticed and was duly impressed that there were even a half-dozen publications listed from the decade before St Christopher’s Hospice opened, in 1967. I had no idea… Continue reading
I’ve visited many hospices over the years so there’s a sense of familiarity about them, but amongst the ‘pattern recognition’ there’s always a unique feature that jumps out, grabbing the attention. No matter how much one believes rationally in the ‘main-streaming’ of palliative care into the whole healthcare system, there is still something about the individuality of hospice… Continue reading
