Palliative Medicine Teaching

Palliative Medicine Teaching Palliative Care aims to deliver holistic, personalised, team-based healthcare with excellent communication. Don’t we all want that? Leeroy William

30/05/2026

  Written by: Dr Anvitha Shetty, Program and Medical Lead, Integrated Palliative Care, Saranam, an initiative of The Sheltr Foundation.   Tod

30/05/2026

New "cuddle beds" allow terminally ill patients to spend their final days holding loved ones — instead of being separated by standard hospital equipment.

For Darren Powell and his partner Nikki Smith, a terminal cancer diagnosis and subsequent paralysis meant more than just medical challenges; it meant the loss of physical closeness. Traditional nursing beds forced the couple to sleep in separate rooms, making a simple hug nearly impossible. However, the introduction of specialized "cuddle beds" at St Leonard’s Hospice in York has transformed their final chapter. These innovative beds expand to allow partners, children, and even pets to lie side-by-side with patients, facilitating "date nights" and movie marathons that restore a sense of normalcy and profound emotional connection during life's most difficult moments.

This vital upgrade in patient care was made possible by the tireless fundraising of Louise Ryan, who raised nearly £60,000 after the death of her husband, Nick. Having experienced the painful loss of physical contact during his final months, Louise turned her grief into a mission to ensure other families could remain close. Each bed costs £15,000, and with the hospice relying on the community for 75% of its annual funding, such grassroots efforts are essential. These beds do more than provide comfort; they offer a legacy of dignity, ensuring that the final memories shared by families are defined by a cuddle rather than a clinical barrier.

source: Turvey, N. 'Cuddle bed gave us back our togetherness'. BBC News.

28/05/2026

First media spot accomplished! Thank you to The Listener for allowing me to be 'upfront' about the need for mandatory grief education in schools. Next step, a petition, me thinks. Who's up for signing?

You can read more about this painting via the link below. We have work to do!Changing Ideas is a charity that funds init...
28/05/2026

You can read more about this painting via the link below. We have work to do!

Changing Ideas is a charity that funds initiatives addressing human rights and social injustice, and supports public interest campaigners, lawyers and journalists driving real world change.�
This new award celebrates work in the RSA Annual Exhibition exploring urgent themes of social change.

https://www.rsaannualexhibition.org/awards/

28/05/2026

Please watch this!

23/05/2026

Patients who do not speak the same language as their health care clinicians experience significant inequities when they encounter the health care system. Compared with those who speak the dominant language, hospitalized patients who prefer another language are at increased risk of a range of poor outcomes, including adverse events that result in physical harm.

💡This JAMA Internal Medicine Clinical Insights article discusses improving care quality for hospitalized patients who have a nondominant language preference. https://ja.ma/4nAjcnr

“The SPACE service demonstrated that a principle-­based, adaptable model for accessing specialist palliative care can im...
16/05/2026

“The SPACE service demonstrated that a principle-­based, adaptable model for accessing specialist palliative care can improve staff capability and improve end-­of-­life outcomes in residential aged care.”

“While palliative care specialists are particularly experienced in handling the emotional demands of caring for the dyin...
15/05/2026

“While palliative care specialists are particularly experienced in handling the emotional demands of caring for the dying patient, their expertise could usefully be shared more widely beyond their specialty. This is particularly important, given that most end-of-life care is provided by doctors from specialties other than palliative medicine.”

“As an Australian first, this study projected that, by 2042, between 164,915 and 222,649 Australians might benefit from ...
15/05/2026

“As an Australian first, this study projected that, by 2042, between 164,915 and 222,649 Australians might benefit from palliative care services before death.

Older people as well as people living with cancer and dementia will drive Australia’s increasing need for palliative care. Regional and remote areas require particular attention, given the rate of increasing palliative need is greater in these areas than that in major cities.

These findings have important implications for the health workforce and service delivery. Future research should focus on ensuring Australia’s supply of palliative care services is sufficient to meet the demand that has been quantified in this study.”

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