In this webinar we will be exploring the future of palliative care and highlighting the NIHR supported Incubator, a new initiative to increase research capacity and drive improvements for patients. The webinar is hosted by the NIHR ARC Palliative and End of Life Care National Leadership forum led by ARC South London and ARC East of England.
The NIHR Palliative and End of Life Care (PEoLC) Incubator is funded for three years and is currently in its set-up phase. It will launch in July 2025 and is led by Professors Candy McCabe and Christina Faull.
NIHR Incubators delve into the complex issues and barriers that exist in capacity building in a particular area and are led by the community who are embedded in and who have forged careers in these areas. The funding enables a community to bring together key stakeholders to suggest and implement solutions to building research capacity in a sustainable and meaningful way. Incubators are intended to provide a spotlight on a particular research area, discipline, or profession that will benefit from some additional community-led support to help boost academic research capacity.
Our Incubator aims to catalyse a step-change in adult and children’s Palliative and End of life Care research capacity. We will stimulate, inspire, and support health and social care professionals and researchers, especially in professional, geographic and ethnic under-represented groups, conducting research in any care setting (acute, primary, community, residential (including hospices)) by:
Presentations will include scene setting of the current state of PEoLC research capacity and capability; information on the Incubator and future plans; and how the work of the Incubator has the potential to benefit current and future clinical academics careers.
The session will also highlight the current Palliative Care Commission (and the Health and Social Care Committee’s expert panel evaluation of palliative care in England.
Note that the Commission’s call for written evidence closes on 28 March, and we encourage all those with insights, experiences, and evidence in palliative care to contribute and help shape the recommendations.
Professor Candy McCabe is Head of Education and Research, Dorothy House Hospice, Winsley;& Professor of Clinical Research and Practice, University of the West of England, Bristol. She is a registered nurse and previous Florence Nightingale Foundation Clinical Professor in Nursing.
Candy has worked as a clinical academic for nearly thirty years in the specialities of Rheumatology and chronic pain, and joined Dorothy House Hospice Care in 2019. Her research and clinical interests directly relate to increasing our understanding of the lived experiences of those with life limiting conditions, and the mechanisms and potential therapies for chronic unexplained pain. She established with colleagues the national centres for multi-disciplinary rehabilitation for people with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS), and for complex cancer late effects. She was the nursing representative on NICE Guidelines for chronic primary pain, past-Chair of the IASP Special Interest Group for CRPS, and past President of the British Health Professionals in Rheumatology. She is a strong advocate for clinical academic careers.
Professor Christina Faull has recently retired having been a consultant in palliative medicine for over 30 years. She has held leadership positions in research at LOROS Hospice, Leicester and in the NIHR nationally and in the East Midlands.
With support of, amongst others, her PhD and ACF fellows Christina has worked to improve the end of life care of ventilated supported patients with MND and respiratory disease leading the national Guidance on effective symptom management in withdrawal of ventilation. Her other applied research interests include 25 years of work to improve outcomes and experiences for people from diverse ethnic and faith backgrounds; in communication in key conversations in advanced illness, including working with interpreters; and latterly in novel intervention for anxiety linked to the breathlessness of advanced respiratory disease.
Kieran Potts is an emerging academic clinician currently placing his efforts and expertise into steering research delivery, strategy, and palliative care initiatives at North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust. He also proudly maintain his clinical knowledge as a qualified Advanced Clinical Practitioner (Paramedic) with over a decade of experience working within the Urgent and Emergency Care Sector in a variety of senior clinical and leadership roles.