List of useful organisations
Palliative and end of life care
England, Wales and Northern Ireland
The National Council for Palliative Care
The National Council for Palliative Care (NCPC) is the umbrella charity for all those involved in providing, commissioning and using palliative care and hospice services in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. NCPC promotes the extension and improvement of palliative care services for everyone with life-threatening and life-limiting conditions. NCPC promotes palliative care in health and social care settings across all sectors to government, national and local policy makers.
Scotland
Services in Scotland are provided by The Scottish Partnership for Palliative Care.
www.palliativecarescotland.org.uk
Children and young people
Palliative care services for children and young people are provided by the Association for Children with Life-Threatening Illnesses (ACT).
Children's Hospices
Children’s Hospices UK is the national charity supporting all children’s hospice services. Their vision is for every child and young person who is not expected to reach adulthood - and their family - to have awareness of, and access to, the highest standards of care and support close to or in the home.
Hospices, general
Help the Hospices is a leading charity supporting hospice care throughout the UK. If you are a patient, carer or have an interest in hospice and palliative care the following link will provide information.
Bridging children's and adult services
The Transitions Partnership was set up by NCPC, ACT, Children’s Hospices UK and Help the Hospices. It looks at the specific challenges of transition between children and adult services. The partnership is working to improve understanding of transition and development of services. To read more on this partnership visit:
Support
Think About Your Life is a website for people with cancer or another chronic illness. It was was created by cancer survivors. Users choose from a range of free 'person-centered thinking tools' which they can use to express their hopes, fears, state of mind, whether they're having a good or bad day, etc. Think About Your Life offers workshops, coffee chats and consultation sessions to help people use the tools effectively.
www.thinkaboutyourlife.org/index.cfm
Help with pets
The Cinnamon Trust is a national charity aimed at relieving the anxieties and problems faced by elderly and terminally ill people and their pets. They provide practical help when any aspect of day to day care poses a problem, eg: walking a dog for a housebound owner, as well as offering pet fostering services.
www.cinnamon.org.uk/cinnamon-trust
Further information
The NCPC produce policy and practical guidance, covering a wide range of issues to support end of life care. Recently, these have included concentrated work and publications relating to the care of:
- People with dementia
- People with chronic respiratory diseases including Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)
- People with neurological conditions
- People with multiple conditions such as cancer and a stroke
More information and details of how to access NCPC’s resources, or subscribe to them, can be found on their website. There is also information on how you can help shape NCPC’s work through its public involvement programme.
Link: www.ncpc.org.uk
