All Island Children’s Palliative Care Conference to tackle sensitive issues

A multi-disciplinary conference on end-of-life paediatric care returns as a live, in-person event this month, with a packed agenda of expert speakers tackling often complex and sensitive issues.

The 5th All-Island Children’s Palliative Care Conference (CPCC2022) comes to Northern Ireland for the first time, with delegates meeting on 17-18 November in the Titanic Hotel, Belfast. The event aims to build on the success of previous conferences with a full programme covering areas such as neonatal palliative care, bereavement support and palliative care in oncology.

This year’s conference will be co-chaired by Karen Charnley, Director, All Ireland Institute of Hospice & Palliative Care (AIIHPC) and Grace Stewart, Head of Children’s Services, NI Children’s Hospice – the only children’s hospice in Northern Ireland.

“Meeting in Belfast for the first time, along with the opportunity to meet in person for the first time in a while, is most welcomed.

“There is an increasing need for care for children with complex life-limiting illnesses and this conference is a united effort of healthcare organisations throughout Ireland to highlight the importance of this issue.

“The sharing of knowledge and expertise forms an integral element of the event. The conference’s overarching theme of ‘Communication: Compassion and Common Ground’ underpins the key requirements for caring with children with life-limiting conditions.

“The event will also explore and give food for thought around the capacity to appreciate all the perspectives at play, to think about the hard questions – when and how they need to be asked and encourage professionals to examine dignity in life,” Ms Charnley said.

Grace Stewart said: “While many parts of society have slowed down over the past two years, Paediatric Palliative Care has not. The number of children with a palliative diagnosis continues to grow as does the range of treatment options and the expectations placed on those interventions.

“One key objective of our conference is to increase public and professional understanding of ethical decision-making regarding the care of children with life-limiting conditions.

“As professionals, we face ever-increasing complexity and consequently a rising number of challenges in the situations we encounter. This is set against a backdrop of a widening cultural diversity, increased social commentary and limited resources.

“This conference will be an opportunity for stakeholders to share ideas of we might better navigate such a landscape, to continue to provide excellent care in a way that meets the individual needs of each family and safeguard the interests of the child.”

Details of the conference agenda and the keynote speakers are available via the conference website at www.cpcc.ie.

ENDS

To request further information or arrange an interview, please contact: communications@nihospice.org or call 0044 (0) 28 9078 1836.

NOTES TO EDITORS

The list of the conference’s keynote speakers includes:

  • Professor Dominic Wilkinson, Director of Medical Ethics, University of Oxford;
  • Dr Finella Craig, Consultant in Paediatric Palliative Medicine, Great Ormond St Hospital;
  • Professor Maria Brenner, Professor of Children’s Nursing, University College Dublin; and
  • Sarah Barclay, Director and Founder of Medical Mediation Foundation.

The All-Island Children’s Palliative Care Conference is very grateful to its partners, all of whom have been working together to promote children’s palliative care across the island of Ireland, and whose support has made the conference possible:

  • The All Ireland Institute of Hospice and Palliative Care;
  • Northern Ireland Hospice;
  • St James’s Hospital Dublin;
  • University College Dublin;
  • LauraLynn Children’s Hospice;
  • National University of Ireland Galway;
  • The Irish Hospice Foundation;
  • Children’s Health Ireland;
  • The Jack and Jill Foundation;
  • The Health Service Executive;
  • The Regional Paediatric Palliative Care Network;
  • Irish Association for Palliative Care;
  • The Department of Health NI;
  • Health and Social Care Trust NI.

The 5th All-Island Children’s Palliative Care Conference is being supported by:

  • Belfast City Council;
  • Tourism Northern Ireland;
  • Visit Belfast;
  • The Jack and Jill Foundation;
  • Wild in Art;
  • LauraLynn Children’s Hospice;
  • The Irish Hospice Foundation.

Follow the conference on Twitter @cpcconf2022 using the hashtag #cpcc2022

www.cpcc.ie