News archive 2008

World’s first Palliative Care Institute at King’s

05 Feb 2008, PR 26/08

The Cicely Saunders Institute of Palliative Care, was officially launched today by the Prime Minister Gordon Brown MP at King’s.  The Institute will be the first international academic institute in the world to focus specifically on palliative care research, dissemination and teaching, linked to clinical care.


Lord Douro, Chairman of Council at King’s, opened the ceremony thanking the Cicely Saunders Foundation for choosing King’s as the partner for this new venture and pronouncing it a foundation for excellence and a world leader in the field of palliative care. 

The Chairman of Cicely Saunders International, Mr John McGrath explained that: ‘The Institute was a realisation of Dame Cicely’s heartfelt dream , she was a huge inspiration and driving force to improve palliative care and make treatment more available to all those that would benefit.’

The Prime Minister agreed to perform the ceremony as he featured Dame Cecily as one of the eight heroes in this book Courage published last year.

In his speech Gordon Brown paid tribute to the College and thanked donors, staff and students for their hard work and praised all the contributors for such a true centre of excellence which he said;  

'Like Dame Cecily herself was a real pioneer for palliative care in the world.' He said that in the coming months the Government will be doing more to support palliative care and that an institute such as this would give the world the best practice in palliative care.

The Principal closed the event, thanking the Prime Minister for his presence at the launch and expressing his gratitude that he had visited the College twice in a month. He acknowledged the prime Minister's commitment to supporting palliative care within the health service and thanked all the donors, staff and students at what he described was 'a particularly heart warming and forward looking occasion.'

Attendees included key donors to the Institute and Department of Palliative Care, staff who have been involved in the development of the Institute, and other friends of King’s and the Foundation.

Cicely Saunders Institute of Palliative Care

Professor Irene Higginson, Head of the Department of Palliative Care, Policy & Rehabilitation, King’s College London, commented: ‘Currently there is no organization in the world that is solely dedicated to the research and improvement of services in palliative care. As the population lives longer, due to reductions in acute disease, many more people will need palliative care and support to help them live as well as possible until they die. To improve this situation, research is urgently needed.’

King’s College London is one of the major research led universities in the UK with a strong tradition of teaching and research and a record of international excellence and innovation in palliative care.  The Institute will enable close research collaboration between scholars and clinicians in palliative care and related disciplines from a wide range of local, national and international organizations.

The work of the Institute will advance understanding in palliative care and treatment for patients, as well as improving interaction between patients and healthcare professionals. The Institute will provide undergraduate, masters and postgraduate teaching in palliative care for students and healthcare professionals from around the world. 

Key research strands include: breathlessness, fatigue, sleeplessness, pain, ethnic and socially excluded populations including the elderly.  Disease areas include: cancer, neurological diseases, kidney disease, HIV and beyond.

Professor Higginson said: ‘Cicely Saunders International is a dynamic new charity in the drive for quality research to improve the care and treatment of all patients with progressive illness and to make high quality palliative care available to everyone who needs it. ‘

[Picture - The Prime Minister meets Professor Irene Higgnson, Head of the Department of Palliative Care, Policy & Rehabilitation and John McGrath, Chairman of Cicely Saunders International.  Photo taken by Greg Funnell.]



Notes to editors

1. At this stage £7.3million pounds has been raised towards the goal of £9.35million needed to establish the Institute, thanks to the generous support of Cicely Saunders International, and other key donors including Atlantic Philanthropies, the Wolfson Foundation, The Garfield Weston Foundation, Macmillan Cancer Support, Kirby Laing Charitable Foundation, and Roddie Fleming.

2. For further coverage of the event please click here

King’s College London
King’s College London is one of the top 25 universities in the world (Times Higher 2007) and the fourth oldest in England. A research-led university based in the heart of London, King’s has 19,700 students from more than 140 countries, and 5,400 employees. King’s has an outstanding reputation for providing world-class teaching and cutting-edge research. The College is in the top group of UK universities for research earnings and has an annual income of approximately £400 million. An investment of £500 million has been made in the redevelopment of its estate.

King’s has a particularly distinguished reputation in the humanities, law, social sciences, the health sciences, natural sciences and engineering, and has played a major role in many of the advances that have shaped modern life, such as the discovery of the structure of DNA. It is the largest centre for the education of healthcare professionals in Europe and is home to five Medical Research Council Centres - more than any other university.



Further information
Katherine Moore
Email: kate.moore@kcl.ac.uk
Tel: 020 7848 4334



Next:
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