Des Spence, in his BMJ ‘From the Frontline’ piece, asks the question, “Assisted dying: are doctors in denial?” It turns out that, rather than being for or against legalisation of physician assisted suicide, Des suggests a third, pragmatic position. He suggests that doctors routinely withhold treatment and shorten patients’ lives with the use of large […]
Latest articles
New resource aims to advance measurement in palliative care
Patients are set to benefit from the new Palliative Care Outcome Scale (POS), a tool developed to assist clinicians, researchers and other healthcare workers in measuring physical symptoms; psychological, emotional and spiritual needs; and provision of information and support at the end of life. Developed by Professor Irene J Higginson, POS is a free resource […]
News and updates from palliativedrugs.com
Selected items from the News and Latest Additions sections of www.palliativedrugs.com, the world’s leading palliative care website. Safety Updates McKinley T34 extension sets: UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) issue recall All T34 syringe pump extension sets manufactured by CME (McKinley Medical UK) before 1 January 2011 have been recalled due to the […]
Millions worldwide are denied palliative care
Tens of millions of people worldwide are suffering in severe agony in their final days due to lack of access to pain medication, a Human Rights Watch report revealed. The report released this month is based on a survey of policy barriers to palliative care in 40 countries and an assessment of the availability of […]
SHORT CUTS
Articles of interest in other scholarly journals Click on the article headings to view the abstracts A comprehensive review of opioid-induced hyperalgesia Lee M, Silverman SM, Hansen H, Patel VB, Manchikanti L. Pain Physician 2011; 14:145-161 In this review of opioid-induced hyperalgesia, it is suggested that this phenomenon may result from neuroplastic changes in the […]
Integrating quantitative and qualitative methods – and getting it published
Bill Noble, BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care, Editor-in-Chief Describing a study as ‘mixed method’ never felt very respectable or clever. For years we understood that finding the answer to questions about the value of parts of the health service required different kinds of data. The difficulty was knowing how best to put our findings together. […]
Should the law on assisted dying be changed?
The BMJ shines a spotlight on the assisted dying debate, with a ‘Head to Head’ article authored by Raymond Tallis, former professor of geriatric medicine (University of Manchester) and Kevin Fitzpatrick, researcher for UK campaign Not Dead Yet (7 May, 2011). Tallis argues that allowing terminally ill people to choose an assisted death is part […]
News and updates from palliativedrugs.com
Selected items from the News and Latest Additions sections of www.palliativedrugs.com the world’s leading palliative care website. Latest from the UK National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA) NPSA Rapid Response Report on syringe drivers In response to over 160 error reports and eight deaths in the past 5 years, NPSA has issued a Rapid Response Report […]
New resource available for GPs caring for children with palliative care needs
A new, comprehensive handbook aimed at supporting GPs when a child with palliative care needs comes into their care, has been developed and made available for free download by UK charity ACT. The Children’s Palliative Care Handbook for GPs marks a new departure for ACT, by reaching out to support professionals outside of the children’s […]
Bill Noble: Give Me a Doctor for Lansley’s NHS
I first remember hearing Auden’s poem during an after-dinner speech by one of the founding fathers of the hospice movement, Eric Wilkes. It describes the poet’s preference for a doctor, whose portly habitus betrays his understanding of patients’ weaknesses (1). The ideal physician is gentle in his approach, calm in adversity and explicit in his […]