Edinburgh became the epicentre for those looking to learn about the latest developments and learnings in palliative care this week as the Strathcarron Conference: “Palliative Care: Looking through a different lens" took place in the city.

The event - held across two days at the John McIntyre Conference Centre - explored topics related to palliative care and how we might think differently moving forward when supporting people to have a good death.

Topics explored were broad ranging, from research into the lived experience of end of life home care workers, to the ethical challenges of palliative care and the relationships with specialist palliative care teams and place of death in MND.

Expert speakers included:

·        Dr Ben Hudson, Consultant hepatologist, Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital

·        Dr Nat Quail, Registrar in Infectious Disease and Microbiology in the West of Scotland

·        Dr Kathryn Mannix, Author and former consultant and expert in palliative care

·        Professor Liz Forbat, Research Psychologist, University of Stirling.

·        Professor Max Watson, Palliative Care Consultant, Omagh, NI

·        Professor Sam H Ahmedzai, Emeritus Professor, University of Sheffield

·        Dr Jennifer Vidrine, Palliative Care Consultant, Cancer Centre, Newcastle Upon Tyne

·        Dr Naomi Richards, Director of the End of Life Studies Group, University of Glasgow

·        Dr Lyndsay Cardwell, Community Lead Nurse, Strathcarron Hospice

·        Cormac Russell founder of Nurture Development

Mags McCarthy, Strathcarron Hospice, CEO said: “Our 2024 Conference has been a resounding success and we are delighted with the feedback. Our team at Strathcarron is passionate about learning and best practice and we are proud to have world leading experts in their field sharing their expertise with us.

“This event attracted over 140 delegates from the UK and beyond from diverse multidisciplinary backgrounds. It has been a fantastic opportunity to network with colleagues and hear about current developments and debates.

“Our team is already in planning for next year and we look forward to welcoming everyone back to Scotland for another fantastic event in 2025.”

Attendee Peter Horn, Doctor Weldmar Hospicecare Trust, Dorset, said: “The conference has been excellent. It had a nice pace and level of involvement and all the content was relevant.

"It has made me realise we need to work closer with clinical staff across all those involved in the care of patients and the importance of information needs of an individual and approaching a consultation around those information needs. Getting the cultural thoughts from the ethical talk also helped heighted awareness.”

Attendee Dr Jolomi Arowolo, Palliative Care Doctor from London, added: “The conference has been awesome, interesting and enlightening. I am so glad I came all the way from London for this. I love the whole idea of all the topics and it has been wonderful.

“I have taken away a number of learnings. Key highlights for me have been around how we communicate with the people we care for and about working with other specialities.

“I am seeing how as palliative care clinicians we can work better with hospital services. One of the talks made me realise that we need to look at things differently in predicting the trajectory in conditions like liver disease and palliative care. We have to work closely with other health care providers to share information.”

If you would like to be kept informed about plans for our Strathcarron Palliative Care Conference 2025 please register here: Strathcarron Hospice 2025 Conference

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