IRGH Annual Conference
– a brief report
120 delegates met at the Green Park conference centre on Wed 12th October for the IRGH annual conference. The theme of the day was “Working together for excellence in palliative care – who are our partners?” The delegates were a mixture of hospice managers and staff, GP, community and hospital nurses and palliative care nurses who had gathered together to hear speakers, talk about their work and their different perspectives of palliative care.
- Helen Joels IRGH Professional Development Lead, opened the day by introducing Vicky Robinson, Nurse Consultant in Palliative Care at Guys and Thomas's who delivered the keynote speech entitled ‘Dying well matters'.
- Dr Phil Sawyer, GP and IRGH trustee, discussed multidisciplinary working and then the rewards of complementary roles.
- Dr Mary Clarke, Consultant Haematologist, spoke about different viewpoints in haematology and palliative care.
- Liz Pybus and Kim Iliffe, Regional Care Advisors for the Motor Neurone Disease Association, talked about how the voluntary sector can help meet the rapidly changing needs of MND patients and their families.
Finally Lesley Ralston, who cared for her husband as he experienced motor neurone disease, brought us back to a realisation of what is important to carers who are supporting their loved ones through the many difficulties of living with a terminal illness.
Vicky Robinson brought the conference to a close reflecting on the need to respect differences and to remember the goal of all our care is the focus on improving care for patients and families dealing with life threatening illness.
Click here for information on our Annual Conferences.
31st October 2011
