Author: Dr Matthew Doré – Palliative Care Consultant in Northern Ireland Hospice and Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast on his reflections from the 2023 Palliative Care Congress in Edinburgh Is a bagel a bagel without the hole? The hole is nothing, an emptiness a void positioned in the middle of lovely cooked cinnamon dough. But, […]
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Compassionate Cities Conference in Birmingham
Author: Dr Julian Abel, Director Compassionate Communities UK and chair of organising committee Compassionate Cities Conference, Birmingham July 10th and 11th Hosted by Compassionate Communities UK Click Here for Programme and details An inspiring conference, bringing to light how people undergoing the experiences of death, dying, loss and care, can be supported. This should and can […]
The Sin of Sympatigo
Dr Matthew Doré, Palliative Care Consultant Northern Ireland Hospice and Belfast Trust SYMPATIGO DEFINITION: v. To listen intently and sympathize with your colleagues when they request assistance, and then to simply, and completely, forget about it. n. The ability to sympathize with, yet ignore, requests for help.1 In my ignorance I looked up a word ‘sympatiCO’ and […]
How to perform a palliative exorcism
By Dr Joseph Hawkins, Consultant in Palliative Medicine, Clinical lead for End of Life Care, Ashford and St Peter’s NHS Foundation Trust. Twitter: @JoeHawk75825077 Step 1: recognition of the Palliative patient. This is likely to differ depending upon the setting of the patient. Within a surgical setting the patient may have a variety of […]
China’s living will legislation: next steps to improving patient dignity
By Daoxin Yin1, 2，Mai Wang1, 2，Luxia Zhang1, 2, 3 Affiliations 1. National Institute of Health Data Science at Peking University, Beijing, China; 2. Advanced Institute of Information Technology, Peking University, Hangzhou, China 3. Renal Division, Department of Medicine, Peking University First Hospital, Peking University Institute of Nephrology, Beijing, China; Corresponding author Luxia Zhang, MD, MPH […]
Doctor AI (Artificial Intelligence)
By Dr Matthew Doré (Chair of Palliative Care Congress) and HAL (Heuristically programmed Algorithmic computer) CHATGPT – https://chat.openai.com/chat As the years passed, John began to feel a sense of disconnection from the person he had always thought he was. He had always been a hardworking and ambitious man, but as he approached the end […]
Doctor Informed Podcast: DNACPR
BMJ Podcast by BMJ Talk Medicine In this episode of the Doctor Informed podcast, the topic of discussion is Do Not Attempt Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (DNACPR) decisions. The panel, which includes a patient, reflect on the importance of clinicians holding discussions about future end-of-life care as a way of informing and giving choices. The conversation […]
My Wishes – Newham Council Launch
NEWS Overview At 9am on Tuesday 17th January 2023 Newham Council in the UK released a special future care, digital legacy and end of life planning platform for Newham residents. It is free to use and includes real-time support from charitable organisations working within the borough. MyWishes have produced a bespoke, localised version to suit local needs […]
Creation of a new palliative care ward-a one year retrospective.
By Dr Joseph Hawkins, Consultant in Palliative Medicine, Clinical lead for End of Life Care, Ashford and St Peter’s NHS Foundation Trust. Contributor- Mrs Susan Dargan Nurse consultant and lead CNS, nurse lead for End of Life Care, Ashford and St Peter’s NHS Foundation Trust. One of the initial concept drawings of the eternal garden […]
At risk feeding?
By Dr Matthew Doré (Chair of Palliative Care Congress) and Dr Alan McPherson (Chair of The Regional Palliative Medicine Group) “I don’t want thickener!”, “I want to eat it, not down my RIG” or most commonly “I want my roast dinner and all the trimmings, not smooshed!” Sound familiar? There has been an ongoing debate […]