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 and other problems, 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.
Marie Curie is a registered charitable organisation in the United Kingdom which provides hospice care and support for anyone with an illness they’re 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).
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.
London's Air Ambulance Charity is a registered charity that operates a helicopter emergency medical service (HEMS) dedicated to responding to serious trauma emergencies in and around London. Using a helicopter from 08:00 to sunset and rapid response vehicles by night, the service performs advanced medical interventions at the scene of the incident in life-threatening, time-critical situations.
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.
Suzanne Curchod was a French-Swiss salonist and writer. She hosted one of the most celebrated salons of the Ancien Régime. She also led the development of the Hospice de Charité, a model small hospital in Paris that still exists today as the Necker-Enfants Malades Hospital. She was the wife of French finance minister Jacques Necker, and is often referenced in historical documents as Madame Necker.
Greater Baltimore Medical Center (GBMC) is a U.S. hospital located in the Baltimore suburb of Towson, Maryland. It was opened in 1965. GBMC serves more than 20,455 inpatient cases and approximately 52,000 emergency department visits annually. GBMC's main campus includes three medical office buildings—Physicians Pavilion East, Physicians Pavilion West and Physicians Pavilion North I. In addition to its main campus located in Towson, GBMC has several facilities located throughout the community including Hereford, Hunt Manor, Hunt Valley, Owings Mills, Perry Hall, Lutherville, Phoenix and Timonium.
Shooting Star Children's Hospices is an English children's hospice charity. The charity cares for babies, children and young people with life-limiting conditions, and their families, across Surrey and West London. They provide specialist clinical and holistic care to families from diagnosis to end of life and throughout bereavement.
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.
The Religious Sisters of Charity or Irish Sisters of Charity is a Roman Catholic religious institute founded by Mary Aikenhead in Ireland on 15 January 1815. Its motto is Caritas Christi urget nos.
Father Eugeniusz Dutkiewicz SAC Hospice in Gdańsk is a charitable organisation that was founded by the Pallottine priest E. Dutkiewicz in 1983, which provides palliative care for the terminally ill.
The Hospital of St John and St Elizabeth in St John's Wood, London, England, is a Catholic charitable general hospital in north London.
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.
Clatterbridge Health Park is a campus of otherwise independent, health care-related organisations, including three separate NHS trusts.
Spire St Anthony's Hospital is a private hospital in North Cheam, formerly in the county of Surrey, now in the London Borough of Sutton. The hospital is part of the Spire Healthcare group, the second largest provider of private healthcare in the United Kingdom. It was formerly owned and operated by the Daughters of the Cross of Liege, a Roman Catholic religious order. It is located on the junction between the A24 and Gander Green Lane.
Healthcare in Cambridgeshire was the responsibility of NHS Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Clinical Commissioning Group until July 2022. This was one of the largest in the United Kingdom.
Anna Gaynor or Mother Mary John was an Irish Religious Sister of Charity and first superior of Our Lady's Hospice, Harold's Cross, Dublin.
