Mhoira Leng will challenge us to think about palliative care from a global perspective.  Over the past ten years the number of internally displaced persons has risen to 41 million and the number of refugees has doubled to 26 million. Moira will share some of the barriers and positive achievements in addressing suffering in the most difficult of circumstances.

Dr Mhoira Leng founded Cairdeas International Palliative Care Trust and has now worked across 4 continents and more than 20 countries to advocate and build capacity for palliative care.  Mhoira is passionate about transformative, compassionate health care with a focus on those living with serious illness and in fragile settings. 

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Sarah Yardley will explore the idea that healthcare systems should provide not just what is ‘safe’ but also what is ‘good’. Prioritising patient-defined needs can create tensions with safety standards, while failure to consider these can result in avoidable harms.  An effective system is one in which shared understanding leads to shared practices to deliver safe care because people are relationally connected and committed to mutually agreed outcomes.

Sarah Yardley is an Associate Professor of Palliative Medicine in the Marie Curie Palliative Care Research Department, UCL.  Her research focuses on reducing the gaps between rhetoric and reality, policy and practice, expectations and experience in healthcare. She is particularly interested in the hidden work of people - patients, families, carers, and healthcare professionals – and the need to redeem the role of relationship-centred practices in healthcare systems. 

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Simon Noah Etkind will consider ‘uncertainty’ - does uncertainty always have to be distressing? Or, if we can enable people to appraise uncertainty differently, or tolerate uncertainty better ourselves, can much of the distress associated with uncertainty, and its potential wider impacts on decision making and care planning, be ameliorated?

Simon Noah Etkind is Assistant Professor of Palliative Care at the University of Cambridge. His research focuses on improving care for those with serious and life limiting illnesses; he is particularly interested in the uncertainties inherent to complex illness trajectories such as multimorbidity, and how we can optimise care to address uncertainty and improve patient and carer experience.

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In this interactive conversation, Usha Grieve will explore questions such as... What challenges do the public face in planning for end of life? We all know planning is not a panacea for a good experience when dying, so how does it help in reality?  Where people have engaged in planning, how good is the system at actually respecting their preferences?

Usha Grieve is Director of Partnerships & Services at Compassion in Dying, a charity that supports people to make decisions about and plan for the end of life.  She specialises in the legal rights that can enable people to plan ahead for their treatment and care, and the support needed to ensure each individual has the death that is right for them.

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When someone close to us dies we have choices about how to respond. This session will provide an exploration of the implications of our choices for our longer-term wellbeing. For example, would you consider taking control of a person’s body and looking after them until their funeral? The presenters will cover legalities and practicalities, whilst also recognising the essential mystery and profound impacts of this often hidden part of life.

Kate Clark is a palliative and community nurse with 20 years experience and co-founder/trustee of Scotland-wide Pushing Up the Daisies charity.  Dietmar Hartmann retired in 2022 from his post as Consultant in Anaesthesia and Pain Medicine in NHS Tayside and is Trustee of Pushing Up the Daisies.

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Presence is the foundation of relationship and so a vital part of care towards the end of life. But many things can interfere with presence and erode connection, leaving a space between us. What can be done?

John Swinton is Professor in Practical Theology and Pastoral Care and Chair in Divinity and Religious Studies at the University of Aberdeen.

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This session will describe the latest evidence regarding delirium management in palliative care; introduce the 4AT for routine delirium assessment; explore ways of implementing good delirium care in practice; and share video resources for patients, families and health care professionals.

The session will be led by: Juliet Spiller, Consultant in Palliative Medicine, Marie Curie Hospice Edinburgh; Anne Finucane, Marie Curie Senior Research Fellow, University of Edinburgh and Hilary Nailon, Research Nurse, Marie Curie Hospice Edinburgh.

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After then end of formal programme there will be a chance to catch up with colleagues and make new connections. With music and refreshments.  

Featuring music from Giorgos Tsiris Director of Education, Research & Creative Arts, St Columbas Hospice, and others.

Photo by Dolo Iglesias

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Delegates from member organisations: £150

Delegate fee (for non-member organisations): £199

A list of member organisations can be found on our website: SPPC member organisations

Students: £90

Book your place here: SPPC Conference 2024 Bookings

Check out the conference website here: SPPC Conference 2023: Out of the Shadows

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