Palliative Care

The Consortium recognizes the need for a comprehensive palliative care initiative and is involved in many activities to improve palliative care.

The goal of palliative care is to prevent and relieve suffering and improve the quality of life for people facing life-threatening illnesses, such as cancer. Palliative care, treatment provided to relieve symptoms caused by advanced cancer, does not alter the course of disease, but can improve quality of life by treating pain and other problems, which may include physical and psychosocial.

A growing number of professionals and volunteers are currently seeking to improve palliative care services on the island of Ireland. Professor Judith Hill, Chief Executive Officer of Northern Ireland Hospice Care, serves as the palliative care liaison and spokesperson in the All-Ireland NCI Cancer Consortium Strategic Advisory Group. In this capacity, Professor Hill brings palliative care issues, programs, and ideas to the Consortium.

All-Ireland Institute for Hospice and Palliative Care

Professor David Clark is the current Visiting Professor of Hospice Studies at University Dublin and Trinity College Dublin. Professor Clark has been instrumental in facilitating discussion related to the need for supportive, palliative, and end-of-life care on the island of Ireland. He collaborated with various consultants to develop a proposal for an All-Ireland Institute for Hospice and Palliative Care, All-Ireland Institute for Hospice and Palliative Care: Outline Proposal (May 2007). The Institute will provide education and training, research, and resources to service providers and policymakers. In the proposal, the group expresses the vision "to improve the experience of supportive, palliative, and end-of-life care on the island of Ireland, by enhancing the capacity to: develop knowledge, promote learning, influence policy, and shape practice."

In December 2007, the group met to draft a business plan for the Institute, All-Ireland Institute for Hospice and Palliative Care: Communiqué (December 2007). This plan describes the objectives of the Institute, as well as potential activities. The business plan is being submitted to potential funders, facilitating the development of funding mechanisms. It is expected that the All-Ireland Institute for Hospice and Palliative Care will be formally established sometime in mid/late 2009. For further details, please see the All-Ireland Institute for Hospice and Palliative Care: Update 4 (April 2008).

Nursing Working Group

The Board of Directors established the Nursing Working Group (NRS WG) to address the shortage of oncology-trained nurses on the island of Ireland. The NRS WG focuses on expanding educational opportunities for Irish and Northern Irish nurses and promoting nursing and palliative care activities within the Consortium www.allirelandnci.org/programs/nursing.shtml

To learn more about the Consortium's palliative care activities, contact our Help Desk.