Marie Curie Cancer Care, Marie Curie Memorial Foundation, Marie Curie Hospital for Cancer and Allied Diseases
Marie Curie is a registered charitable organisation in the United Kingdom which provides hospice care and support for anyone with an illness they are likely to die from, and those close to them, and campaigns for better support for dying people. It was established in 1948, the same year as the National Health Service (NHS).
In the financial year 2021/22, the charity supported 66,024 people through its nursing services, hospices and support line calls. It runs nine hospices in Belfast, Bradford, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Hampstead, Liverpool, Newcastle, and the West Midlands. The charity's information and support service was used more than 1.2 million times.[2]
Marie Curie campaigns on issues affecting people with any illness they're likely to die from, their families and carers, and it's the largest charitable UK funder of palliative and end-of-life care research.[3]
History
Marie Curie was founded in 1948.
The Marie Curie Hospital was founded in Hampstead, North London in 1930. It was staffed entirely by women to treat female cancer patients using radiology and had some research facilities too. A successful scientist, Marie Curie gave the hospital permission to use her name.
In 1944, most of the hospital was destroyed in an air raid during the Second World War. Four years later, Bernard Robinson OBE and a committee set about re-establishing the hospital and decided to separate it from the newly formed NHS. This was the beginning of the Marie Curie Memorial Foundation − a charity which began by dedicating itself to caring for people with cancer, and today has evolved into the leading UK end of life charity for people with any terminal illness including motor neurone disease, Parkinson's and Dementia.
The charity continued to use the name of scientist Marie Curie, with permission from her daughter Eve.
Following the donation of an engagement ring to help raise money for the charity, the very first appeal was launched and brought in a substantial £4,000.
Nurses
Marie Curie Nurses and Health Care Assistants provide home hospice care for thousands of people with terminal illnesses across the UK every year. This includes managing their pain, and providing practical care and giving emotional support. Marie Curie's nursing service also provide practical and emotional support for families and carers.
Together with statutory government NHS funding, voluntary contributions are essential for Marie Curie to be able to provide nursing services. In the financial year 2021/22, they were funded 46% by charitable donations and 54% by the NHS.[2]
Hospices
Marie Curie Hospices provide specialist care and support for people living with a terminal illness and those close to them through inpatient, outpatient, and virtual services. There are Marie Curie Hospices in Belfast, Bradford, Edinburgh, Glasgow, London (Hampstead), Liverpool, Newcastle, Penarth (near Cardiff), and the Marie Curie Hospice, West Midlands in Solihull.
Marie Curie hospices are free at the point of access. They run on a combination of statutory government NHS funding and voluntary contributions to run. In the financial year 2021/22, they were funded 59% through charitable donations and 41% by the NHS.[2]
Support line
Marie Curie runs a free, UK-wide support line service to provide practical information and emotional support on all aspects of life with terminal illness, dying and bereavement. The service includes a phone line, call-back service, web chat, an online community, and information online and in print.
Marie Curie also offers a free bereavement support service which matches people experiencing grief with specially trained volunteers for regular support.
Both services are funded by charitable donations.
Volunteer services
The charity runs Companion volunteer services at home, in hospitals and over the phone for people living with a terminal illness which provide companionship and respite towards the end of life.
Campaigning
Marie Curie campaigns on issues which affect people living with a terminal illness and those close to them.
In 2021, their Scrap Six Months campaign with the Motor Neurone Disease Association resulted in a change in the law in Scotland, Northern Ireland, England and Wales. This made it easier for people diagnosed with a terminal illness to access the benefits they need.
Previously, there was a rule in place meaning people diagnosed with a terminal illness could only get quick and easy access to financial support if a doctor or nurse said they had less than six months to live.
In 2022, Marie Curie's campaign to Make End of Life Care Fair resulted in a change being made to the UK Government's Health and Care Bill. The change will mean that, in the future, end of life care must be provided by law in every part of England where local people need it.
Policy and research
Marie Curie is the UK's leading charitable funder of palliative and end of life care research. It funds its own researchers, and works in partnership with other organisations. Marie Curie research investments aim to improve the care and support that people affected by any terminal illness and their families receive.
Every year, the charity awards research project grants in open competition through the Marie Curie Research Grants Scheme. All applications are subject to a process of external peer review before a final decision is made by an independent funding committee.
Marie Curie supports and funds the work of two long term Palliative Care Research Facilities across the UK − the Marie Curie Palliative Care Research Unit, UCL and the Marie Curie Palliative Care Research Centre, Cardiff University. It hosts an annual research conference with professionals from across research, policy and health and social care to share the latest evidence and innovation in palliative and end of life care.
The charity also encourages research across its hospices and nursing service. To help achieve this, three posts are held through its Research Facilitator Programme at Marie Curie Hospices in Belfast, Edinburgh and the West Midlands.
Fundraising
Marie Curie adopted the daffodil emblem in 1986 as a positive, resilient, life-affirming symbol, with a bright and joyful yellow colour. Marie Curie's biggest fundraising campaign is called The Great Daffodil Appeal and takes place throughout March each year.
The charity raises money in a variety of ways, including through charity shops, corporate partnerships, philanthropy, mass participation events, social events, direct giving campaigns, digital and TV campaigns, gifts in wills and bucket collections.
The Great Daffodil Appeal is Marie Curie's flagship fundraising campaign. Members of the public fundraise and donate, and wear a daffodil in support of the charity and better end of life care for all.
On 23 March 2021, Marie Curie led the first National Day of Reflection[4] in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic to commemorate the people who had died and support the millions of people who'd been bereaved. This returned for a second and third year in 2022 and 2023.
Related Research Articles
Palliative care is an interdisciplinary medical caregiving approach aimed at optimizing quality of life and mitigating suffering among people with serious, complex, and often terminal illnesses. Within the published literature, many definitions of palliative care exist. The World Health Organization (WHO) describes palliative care as "an approach that improves the quality of life of patients and their families facing the problems associated with life-threatening illness, through the prevention and relief of suffering by means of early identification and impeccable assessment and treatment of pain, illnesses including other problems whether physical, psychosocial, and spiritual". In the past, palliative care was a disease specific approach, but today the WHO takes a broader patient-centered approach that suggests that the principles of palliative care should be applied as early as possible to any chronic and ultimately fatal illness. This shift was important because if a disease-oriented approach is followed, the needs and preferences of the patient are not fully met and aspects of care, such as pain, quality of life, and social support, as well as spiritual and emotional needs, fail to be addressed. Rather, a patient-centered model prioritizes relief of suffering and tailors care to increase the quality of life for terminally ill patients.
Dame Cicely Mary Strode Saunders was an English nurse, social worker, physician and writer. She is noted for her work in terminal care research and her role in the birth of the hospice movement, emphasising the importance of palliative care in modern medicine, and opposing the legalisation of voluntary euthanasia.
Royal Trinity Hospice is the oldest hospice in the United Kingdom; it was founded in 1891 by a member of the Hoare banking family. It is located in Clapham Common, London, England, and provides specialist palliative care. In 2019, Royal Trinity Hospice was rated "Outstanding" by the Care Quality Commission, the highest rating that can be awarded. The hospice provides palliative and end of life care for patients in an inpatient unit at their Clapham Common headquarters and in the community, wherever patients may be living. In 2018, Trinity cared for 2,500 patients; in addition, the hospice provided pre- and post-bereavement support for over 900 carers.
Sue Ryder is a British palliative and bereavement support charity based in the United Kingdom. Formed as The Sue Ryder Foundation in 1953 by World War II Special Operations Executive volunteer Sue Ryder, the organisation provides care and support for people living with terminal illnesses and neurological conditions, as well as individuals who are coping with a bereavement. The charity was renamed Sue Ryder Care in 1996, before adopting its current name in 2011.
A children's hospice is a hospice specifically designed to help children and young people who are not expected to reach adulthood with the emotional and physical challenges they face, and also to provide respite care for their families.
Sobell House Hospice is an Oxford-based hospice serving the residents of Oxfordshire, England affected by life-limiting illness.
End-of-life care (EOLC) is health care provided in the time leading up to a person's death. End-of-life care can be provided in the hours, days, or months before a person dies and encompasses care and support for a person's mental and emotional needs, physical comfort, spiritual needs, and practical tasks.
The Liverpool Care Pathway for the Dying Patient (LCP) was a care pathway in the United Kingdom covering palliative care options for patients in the final days or hours of life. It was developed to help doctors and nurses provide quality end-of-life care, to transfer quality end-of-life care from the hospice to hospital setting. The LCP is no longer in routine use after public concerns regarding its nature. Alternative methodologies for Advance care planning are now in place to ensure patients are able to have dignity in their final hours of life. Hospitals were also provided cash incentives to achieve targets for the number of patients placed on the LCP.
The Irish Cancer Society is the national charity in the Republic of Ireland dedicated to eliminating cancer as a major health problem, and improving the lives of those who have cancer.
In the United States, hospice care is a type and philosophy of end-of-life care which focuses on the palliation of a terminally ill patient's symptoms. These symptoms can be physical, emotional, spiritual, or social in nature. The concept of hospice as a place to treat the incurably ill has been evolving since the 11th century. Hospice care was introduced to the United States in the 1970s in response to the work of Cicely Saunders in the United Kingdom. This part of health care has expanded as people face a variety of issues with terminal illness. In the United States, it is distinguished by extensive use of volunteers and a greater emphasis on the patient's psychological needs in coming to terms with dying.
Hospice care is a type of health care that focuses on the palliation of a terminally ill patient's pain and symptoms and attending to their emotional and spiritual needs at the end of life. Hospice care prioritizes comfort and quality of life by reducing pain and suffering. Hospice care provides an alternative to therapies focused on life-prolonging measures that may be arduous, likely to cause more symptoms, or are not aligned with a person's goals.
Father Eugeniusz Dutkiewicz SAC Hospice in Gdańsk, a charitable organization, founded by the Pallottine priest E. Dutkiewicz in 1983, provides palliative care for the terminally ill patients.
Children’s Hospices Across Scotland (CHAS) is a registered charity that provides the country's only hospice services for children and young people with life-shortening conditions, and services across children’s homes and hospitals. The first hospice was built thanks to the late editor-in chief of the Daily Record and Sunday Mail, Endell Laird, who launched a reader appeal which raised £4million. CHAS offers children’s hospice services, free of charge, to every child, young person and their families who needs and wants them.
The Great Daffodil Appeal is Marie Curie's biggest annual fundraising campaign. Every March, millions of people across the UK support this fundraising event by giving a small donation to wear a daffodil pin. This makes it one of the UK's most recognisable charity appeals. Money raised through the appeal helps Marie Curie provide free care and support to people living with a terminal illnesses.
The Society for the Promotion of Hospice Care (SPHC) is a non-profit NGO that advocates and provides hospice and palliative care services in Hong Kong, China. It also conducts end-of-life research, education, and training.
The North London Hospice (NLH) is a registered charity offering hospice care to patients with life-limiting and terminal illnesses. It was founded in 1984 in response to the lack of aftercare for patients being discharged from hospital in north London following the closure of St. Columbus Hospital in 1981, which had been north London's only long-stay hospital. The north London Hospice was the United Kingdom's first multi-faith hospice. It provides its specialist palliative and end-of-life care to people within the boroughs of Barnet, Enfield and Haringey. This takes place at its Finchley in-patient unit, which was opened in 1992, it's Health & Wellbeing Centre in Winchmore Hill and the majority of care is provided to people at home.
Carondelet Health Network is a large Catholic health care provider based in Tucson, Arizona. It has five facilities: Carondelet St. Mary's Hospital, Carondelet St. Joseph's Hospital, Carondelet Neurological Institute, Carondelet Heart & Vascular Institute, and Carondelet Holy Cross Hospital in Nogales, Arizona.
Together for Short Lives is the UK registered charity for children's palliative care. Together for Short Lives’ vision is for children and young people in the UK with life-limiting and life-threatening conditions and their families to have as fulfilling lives as possible, and the best care at the end of life.
Hospices of Hope is a non-profit organisation which aims to provide palliative care services to adults and children with terminal and life-limiting illnesses in Southeastern Europe. The main areas of delivery are Romania, Serbia, and Moldova. Hospices of Hope also provides training and education programmes in countries outside of the core provision.
The Non-Religious Pastoral Support Network (NRPSN) is an organisation supporting a network of people who work in non-religious pastoral care which also promotes and advocates for non-religious pastoral care provision within the UK in institutions such as the NHS and HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS), the British Armed Forces and within the British education system.
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