Author: Dr Tony Duffy, Consultant Palliative Medicine, Edinburgh, Scotland Introduction: In the context of the current UK assisted dying debate, the terms ‘faecal’ and ‘faeculent’ vomiting have been publicly employed, including during the Second Reading debate in parliament. This terminology has featured in stories of unpleasant deaths to contextualise why some people feel assisted suicide […]
Latest articles
Assisted Dying in Germany- Munich study raises concerns
Author: Mark Taubert, NHS Consultant and Professor of Palliative Medicine, Cardiff, UK It can be a challenge finding data on assisted dying and euthanasia in jurisdictions where it is legal. In some areas the data is not made available, elsewhere not much is recorded or observed beyond patient demographics. Finding detail on complication rates and […]
Future Care Planning Cymru
**NEWS** A national peer forum event for Wales with regard to Future Care Planning was held in Cardiff on the 27th March 2025. The event saw key stakeholders and professionals, working in the areas of palliative, end of life care and advance care planning, get together with policy makers, Welsh government representatives and volunteer […]
Do They Go Gently?
Authors: Dr. Benjamin Thomas, Staff Specialist in Palliative Medicine, Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District, NSW, Australia. bluesky: andiyar.bsky.social Dr. Greg Barclay, Senior Staff Specialist in Palliative Medicine, Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District, NSW, Australia Introduction: Voluntary assisted dying (VAD) is becoming more widespread in multiple jurisdictions around the world. Legislation is currently […]
Assisted dying in the UK – law change must be informed by robust evidence
Author: Professor Katherine E Sleeman, King’s College London, UK The UK is moving closer to legalisation of assisted dying. One of the arguments made in favour of legalisation is the limit of palliative care to resolve all suffering. Many of the speeches made in support of the Leadbeater bill (which would legalise assisted dying […]
Sapporo Winter Newsletter
Author: Dr. Kunihiko Ishitani President of The International Research Society of the Sapporo Conference for Palliative and Supportive Care in Cancer President, Higashi Sapporo Hospital, Japan As the saying goes, “time flies like an arrow,” and before we know it the 5th Sapporo Conference for Palliative and Supportive Care in Cancer (SCPSC) will be upon […]
Exploring the unknown
By Dr Joseph Hawkins, Consultant in Palliative Medicine, Clinical lead for End of Life Care, Ashford and St Peter’s NHS Foundation Trust. Twitter: @JoeHawk75825077 At a recent family event a relative explained in long suffering terms how no-one knew why she had a persistent, low level tachycardia at times. The issue appears benign and this […]
Unconscious competence
By Dr Joseph Hawkins, Consultant in Palliative Medicine, Clinical lead for End of Life Care, Ashford and St Peter’s NHS Foundation Trust. Twitter: @JoeHawk75825077 Last night I dreamed of a consultation. It wasn’t a real patient that I was recalling but rather an amalgamation of patient stories from the day that had infiltrated my subconscious. […]
Be complex, be palliative
By Dr Joseph Hawkins, Consultant in Palliative Medicine, Clinical lead for End of Life Care, Ashford and St Peter’s NHS Foundation Trust. Twitter: @JoeHawk75825077 Reporting for The Palliative Times, Our guest reporter Dr Oje Snawkih writes: The new advert for palliative medicine trainees has been a huge success. This follows a dramatic fall in training […]
The Victorian assisted suicide experience and its implications
Author: Hon. Robert Clark, former Attorney-General and MP, Victoria, Australia. Introduction The experience of Victoria, Australia, has been cited in the United Kingdom debate as a shining example of how an assisted suicide regime can work well. I demonstrate here that this is not so, and set out some implications of the Victorian experience. The […]