Top international palliative care experts to share their vision at Edinburgh conference

Looking Back, Looking Forward: Marking 40 Years of Palliative Care will take place on Friday 27 October at the Royal College of Physicians in Edinburgh, Scotland where a range of international speakers will give their views on the future of end of life care.

The conference is aimed at anyone working in or studying health and social care, and will offer a unique opportunity to engage with the speakers’ vision of palliative care,  reflect on how St Columba’s Hospice has shaped care until now and share ideas on how palliative care can be developed further.

The conference’s opening address will be given by Scotland’s chief medical officer Dr Catherine Calderwood, with other guest speakers including:

• Dr Derek Doyle – who was one of the Hospice’s founders and was appointed as its first medical director in 1977, and since has promoted hospice and palliative care in almost all the countries of Europe, as well as North America, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Saudi Arabia and South Africa.
• Professor Nathan Cherny – who has served on the research steering committee of the European Association of Palliative Care since 1997 and in 1999 he helped establish the European Society of Medical Oncology Palliative Care Working Group, which he served as chairman of from 2008 – 2014.
• Professor Philip Larkin – who has clinical and academic experience in the speciality of palliative care, and is currently Professor of Clinical Nursing (Palliative Care) at University College Dublin and Our Lady’s Hospice and Care Services, Dublin. Prof. Larkin’s work combines both a clinical and academic focus which he believes is essential for the development of palliative care and palliative nursing, in particular.
• Professor Brendan McCormack – who focuses on person-centred practice, gerontological nursing, practice development and implementation research. Prof. McCormack has a particular focus on the use of arts and creativity in healthcare research and development. 
• Professor Allan Kellehear – a medical and public health sociologist and who has written extensively on the human experience of dying and public health approaches to its care.

More speakers will be announced when the full programme for the conference is launched next month.

The conference is being organised with the support of the University of Edinburgh and Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh

Dr Erna Haraldsdottir, director of education and research at St Columba’s Hospice commented:

“As St Columba’s Hospice marks its 40th anniversary, we are thrilled to organise this conference for those working or studying in health and social care.  

“Looking Back, Looking Forward: Marking 40 Years of Palliative Care will be an opportunity to hear from some of palliative care’s top speakers who are internationally renowned leaders in the field of palliative care and person-centred care.”

The full event programme for Looking Back, Looking Forward: Marking 40 Years of Palliative Care will be published on the St Columba’s Hospice website on Wednesday 15 February, when registration opens.

The early bird price for registrations will be £75 and standard priced registration will be £95. A small number of spaces will be available at a reduced price for students studying health and social care.

More for information and to register for updates about Looking Back, Looking Forward: Marking 40 Years of Palliative Care, please visit St Columba’s Hospice website.