By Anna Perry Anna Perry was previously a GP partner and is now a speciality doctor on the inpatient unit at the Marie Curie West Midlands hospice. She writes about her thoughts on the discomfort of being distanced from patients and families by Covid whilst being a bridge to their private moments. . During lockdown […]
Latest articles
Improving Palliative Care Through Digital Health Technology
Dr Amara Callistus Nwosu Lancaster University Faculty of Health and Medicine International Observatory on End of Life Care It is essential for society to use technology better to improve palliative care. The need for palliative care is expected to increase globally due to a number of socioeconomic factors, consequently it is important to explore opportunities […]
Part 2: Perspectives on dying from COVID-19: The rising tide
Part two in this exploration of themes from frontline palliative care staff during the pandemic Authors: Dr Simon Tavabie, Dr Katie Ball & Dr Rory Carrigan; Marie Curie Hospice Hampstead In the time following our previous blog post, the news reports of escalating numbers of people dying from the virus, inadequate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) […]
Perspectives on dying from COVID-19: Waiting for the storm
Authors: Dr Simon Tavabie & Dr Katie Ball Marie Curie Hospice Hampstead Today we find ourselves in the middle of a pandemic. COVID-19 has swept across the globe with thousands dead, more seriously unwell, and a sense of anxiety and uncertainty within healthcare professions that is unlike anything we have seen. As the course […]
The Plague revisited
By Dr Mark Taubert, Consultant in Palliative Medicine, Velindre NHS Trust, Cardiff @DrMarkTaubert “I have no idea what’s awaiting me, or what will happen when this all ends. “I know that man is capable of great deeds. “But, you know, I feel more fellowship with the defeated than with saints”- Albert Camus I read The […]
Using video messaging apps during pandemic isolation
How hospitals, hospices & other care facilities can use Video Calling apps, like Skype, to reduce isolation during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic By James Norris, Director of the Digital Legacy Association, London @JamesNorris Reviewed and edited by Mark Taubert, Consultant in Palliative Medicine and honorary Professor Cardiff University Updated 2021 prior to EAPC World Congress Introduction: […]
Advance and Future Care Planning in Wales – Consensus data from conference participants
Authors: Nikki Pease, Consultant in Palliative Medicine, Velindre Cancer Centre, Cardiff, Wales Mark Taubert, National Strategic Lead for Advance/Future Care Planning, NHS Wales Introduction: “Shared Decision making should also include an ability to share the decisions that have been agreed on” In 2019, BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care featured a write-up of the proceedings of […]
Winning Hearts and Minds
Co-speciality supportive care pathways running in parallel with ‘standard’ care? A sustainable, effective and highly rated model of care for patients with advanced heart failure which has potential transferability to other non-cancer advanced stage conditions. by Dr Clea Atkinson, Consultant in Palliative Medicine and Bevan Commission Fellow, Velindre University NHS Trust and Cardiff and Vale […]
Advance care planning- How can it go wrong?
Dr Toby Dinnen GP Academic fellow at Cardiff University and Palliative care speciality doctor Bridgend Twitter @DRTDINNEN Email: dinnenta@cardiff.ac.uk Dr Dinnen summarises a recently published paper on Advance Care Planning pitfalls. Over the last two years I have had the opportunity to carry out research looking at the patient safety implications of advance care planning […]
Simulation in Palliative Care Education
by Dr Geoff Wells Research Fellow in Medical Education, Registrar in Palliative Medicine , Brighton and Sussex Medical School It’s time to start preparing our medical graduates for death and dying – because it does matter. Perhaps the best place to start this blog is by describing my own experience, as inevitably this […]