By Dr. John MacArtney This is an article about the new c-word… COVID. Let me reassure you that if you find “COVID talk” difficult and is something you’d rather ignore, you are not on your own. Take home messages: Hospice staff are still struggling with the emotional implications of working through the emergency period […]
Category: Covid-19
The Sound of covid-19: Binaural Recordings of a Palliative Care Ward Round in a Cancer Hospital.
Authors: Prof. Mark Taubert, Consultant in Palliative Medicine, Velindre University NHS Trust & Cardiff University School of Medicine, Cardiff, UK Mr Glenn Davidson, Artstation, Cardiff, UK Dr. Mike Fedeski, Artstation, Cardiff, UK Dr. Jelle van Gurp, Coordinator Clinical Ethics Radboud University Medical Centre; Assistant professor Ethics of Healthcare, Nijmegen, Netherlands The pandemic has created an […]
Perspectives on dying from COVID-19 part 3: Swimming against the tide
Part three in this exploration of themes from frontline care staff during the pandemic Authors: Dr Simon Tavabie – Royal London Hospital, Dr Katie Ball – Marie Curie Hospice Hampstead, Dr Rory Carrigan – University College London Hospital, Dr Stephanie Lister-Flynn – St Catherine’s Hospice Crawley As we enter the new year we’re offered a […]
Survival of the Kindest – a Christmas Podcast
by Dr Julian Abel, Cornwall, UK What is the collective noun for a group of palliative care consultants? A reflection, a chatter? Perhaps a mob? Or a dollop? In fact, do you like ice-cream? Then read on. It is not often that we have the opportunity to sit down and discuss our working lives with […]
The Development and Implementation of a National Covid-19 Hospital Guideline for Wales
Authors: Rhys Jeffries; Simon Barry; Laura Wallis; Chris Davies and Mark Taubert on behalf of the Respiratory Health Implementation Group Wales, the Institute of Clinical Science and Technology and the NHS Wales Health Collaborative, Cardiff, UK Guideline website: https://covid-19hospitalguideline.wales.nhs.uk/ Introduction: It became evident in early March 2020 that clinical practice in managing COVID-19 varied markedly […]
Lesson from the First Wave: Developing symptom control guidance for COVID-19 patients who are deteriorating despite non-invasive ventilation (NIV) as their ceiling of treatment
Dr Lowri Evans (Registrar in Palliative Medicine) , Dr Clea Atkinson (Consultant Palliative Medicine), Professor Anthony Byrne (Consultant Palliative Medicine) Cardiff and Vale University Health Board and Velindre University NHS Trust, Cardiff, UK In April 2020, the Palliative Care team at the University Hospital of Wales (UHW) were contacted by the respiratory unit, asking for […]
Crossed Communication Wires – A COVID-19 ward experience
Dr Ben Pyrke (Senior House Officer at University Hospital Llandough, Cardiff, UK), Dr Harriet White (Senior House Officer at University Hospital Llandough, Cardiff, UK), Dr Badr Abdalla(Clinical Fellow in Gastroenterology at University Hospital Llandough, UK), Dr Gwen Cartwright (Foundation Doctor Year 1 at University Hospital Llandough, Cardiff, UK) Pre-COVID-19 we relied on face-to-face consultations, […]
Family visits to French palliative care settings during COVID-19
Cécile Barbaret1,2, Elise Perceau-Chambard3, Flora Tremellat-Faliere4, Pascale Vassal5, Louise Hannetel6, Raphael Alluin7, Stéphane Sanchez8 For sick individuals, their family, friends and loved-ones provide essential support. The role of family and friends often goes unrecognised within healthcare, with its constant technological, therapeutic and organisational challenges. Yet, they have a key role to play in palliative care. […]
Mistrust as a risk? – Experiences of Canadian healthcare workers during COVID-19 in long term care facilities
By Marzieh Eghtesadi, MD Over the Easter long weekend in April 2020, I offered my support as a physician to help long term care (LTC) facilities, previously unknown to my practice, facing high mortality from Covid-19. Amongst risk factors previously reported about cross contamination, movement of health care personnel across various facilities was also prevalent […]
(Not) dying alone: recommendations from Italian Palliative Care during COVID-19 pandemic
By Matteo Moroni, Luigi Montanari, Ludovica De Panfilis, Loredana Buonaccorso & Silvia Tanzi Italy During the Coronavirus pandemic, the world of Palliative Care has faced a staggering change in how it communicates with patients, families and even health professionals. The implementation in the daily practice of pre-existing Internet-based devices (1) (together with the development […]