Practical advice for carers from the palliative care frontline

Though Britain originally founded the Hospice movement, it remains astonishing that the training of doctors in Britain still gives insufficient time and attention to palliative care. With medical training (understandably) premised upon saving lives, when faced with the brute reality of the common €˜failure’ of patients actually dying in pain and discomfort – our doctors are all too often ill equipped to offer effective end of life care. Dr Max Pemberton suggests that we need to dramatically improve €œthe teaching around death and dying by encouraging a clear and compassionate approach€¦in its absence, I fear we have gone back to