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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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“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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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“Sharing and involving online”- Outline Business Case for a national electronic Advance and Future Care Planning solution, accessible to care providers and patients

Authors Lucy McLintock, Partner at  Channel 3 Consulting, London, UK Sarah Armitage, Principal Consultant at Channel 3 Consulting, London, UK Steve Ham, Chair, National Programme Board, End of Life Care, NHS Wales Executive, Gwaelod y Garth, Cardiff, UK Mark Taubert, Chair of Advance & Future Care Planning Strategy Group, Cardiff, NHS Wales   The authors […]

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No longer in vogue

By Dr. Joseph Hawkins, Consultant in Palliative Medicine, Ashford and St Peter’s Clinical End of Life Lead, Ashford and St Peter’s NHS Foundation Trust. Twitter: @JoeHawk75825077     Pah!  Dying, it’s hardly fashionable, is it?  It’s like it is all the rage… (That was a Dylan Thomas reference, in case you missed it), But it’s hardly […]

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