By Dr Joseph Hawkins, Consultant in Palliative medicine and end of life clinical lead, Ashford and St Peter’s Hospital. Twitter: @JoeHawk75825077 My bubble Living in a bubble isn’t so bad The view may be different looking out but then, Who says that what you see is Really me? I only have your word […]
Latest articles
A simple recipe for a beautiful dish- Training, Motivation and Expertise in palliative care in cancer:
By Denise Vacca1, Giampiero Porzio2, Raffaele Giusti3. 1U.O. Terapia del Dolore e Cure Palliative ASL Sulcis – Carbonia, Italy. 2Associazione Tumori Toscana, Home Care Service, Tuscany, Italy. 3Medical Oncology Unit, Sant’Andrea Hospital of Rome, Rome, Italy. Twitter account: @oncoblogger Giampiero Porzio M.D. while eating a perfect Italian meal: Birra & Panino! In Italy, […]
Do specialist palliative care teams really have better crystal balls?
Dr Natasha Wiggins, Consultant in palliative medicine and clinical lead for end of life at the Great Western Hospital NHS Trust @Dr_N_Wiggins Dr Ellen Haire, Wales Clinical Academic Track Fellow in Palliative Medicine, University of Cardiff @drellenhaire Picture: Ellen Haire (left) and Natasha Wiggins in a virtual meeting Google ‘crystal ball palliative care’ and […]
Welcome back to the Department of Rebrands!
By Dr Joseph Hawkins, Consultant in Palliative medicine and end of life clinical lead, Ashford and St Peter’s Hospital. Twitter: @JoeHawk75825077 So good to see you again. A true delight, a pleasure, I find myself overcome with delight at the sound of your voice. We failed to succeed in rebranding ‘Palliative care’ but I […]
Why can’t we engage more people in future care planning?
By Dr Joseph Hawkins, Consultant in Palliative medicine and end of life clinical lead, Ashford and St Peter’s Hospital. Twitter: @JoeHawk75825077 It seems to me that planning ahead is a little like eating your five fruit and veg a day. We all know we should do it, but it’s still difficult for many to […]
Excuse my ethnicity: Research in a world where whiteness is the “norm”
Dr Yinting Ta, Palliative Medicine Registrar at St Joseph’s Hospice, London and APM Research & Ethics Committee Trainee Representative Surprise! No one likes bad surprises, but I’m afraid I have one here. Yen et al.’s recent paper on the improved prognostic accuracy of the combined use of the ‘surprise question’ and palliative care screening […]
Crossing the sea for preferred place of death
By Dr Ben Anderson, IMT2, Respiratory Department, Royal Bolton Hospital (Ben.anderson@doctors.org.uk) Co- Authors: Dr Rebecca Lennon, Palliative Care Department, Royal Bolton NHS Foundation Trust and Dr Rizwan Ahmed, Respiratory Department, Royal Bolton NHS Foundation Trust England and Northern Ireland (NI) are part of the United Kingdom. However, due to devolution, healthcare is organised separately […]
“A virtual friend”: Does artificial intelligence provide a solution to loneliness?
By Dr Matthew Doré, Palliative Care Consultant in NI Hospice and Royal Victoria Hospital Belfast, Chair of the PCC There are many differences between ‘real life’ and the virtual, or digital life (social media / internet personae / virtual projections). For me, one of the foremost is that our endearments and faults reside in […]
Welcome to the department of rebrands.
By Dr Joseph Hawkins, Consultant in Palliative Medicine, Ashford and St Peter’s Clinical End of Life Lead, UK. Twitter: @JoeHawk75825077 “We pride ourselves on rebranding here- sewage workers? Perhaps you’d prefer ‘essential underground sanitary removal operators’? Bus drivers? So mundane, so passé, surely you deserve the nomenclature of ‘skilled mass micro-migration managers’. Et voilà, the role […]
Walking the Walk: How can we use carers’ experiences to improve end-of-life care?
By Dr Erica Borgstrom The Open University, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes, UK, MK7 6AA Erica.borgstrom@open.ac.ul (@ericaborgstrom); Claire Henry MBE, School of Health Wellbeing and Social Care, The Open University, Milton Keynes, UK (@clairehenry_); Marie Cooper, St Christopher’s Hospice, London, UK (@mariecooper100); Roberta Lovick, Lay carer representative, Norwich, UK and Kerry Jones, School of Health Wellbeing […]