Tullamore Hospital raises awareness during Palliative Care Week 2025
To mark Palliative Care Week 2025, Midland Regional Hospital Tullamore (MRHT) hosted an information day for the public to raise awareness and improve understanding of palliative care and its benefits.
This year’s theme, “Palliative Care: Living for Today, Planning for Tomorrow,” encourages people to focus on living well now while also thinking about future care needs. Palliative care supports people in making the most of life by addressing physical, emotional, and spiritual needs, while also helping families and carers navigate important conversations around future care planning.
Dr Mark Howard, Palliative Medicine Consultant in MRHT said, "Palliative care teams support people with incurable illness who have complex needs. It is available to people irrespective of their diagnosis and follows a team approach to maximise quality of life for as long as possible."
What Does Palliative Care Do?
- Relieves pain and other distressing symptoms
- Supports emotional and spiritual wellbeing
- Helps people live as actively as possible until the end of life
- Supports families during illness and after bereavement
- Uses a team approach to care, including counselling if needed
- Can be provided alongside treatments like chemotherapy or radiotherapy
- Improves quality of life and may even help with recovery
- Encourages early planning for future care needs
Zara Dagg, End of Life Care Coordinator, MRHT said, “Palliative care can be provided at any stage following diagnosis. It is for people of all ages and it can be given alongside treatments like chemotherapy or radiotherapy. It helps people with serious illnesses live as fully and comfortably as possible.”
Paula Ward, Advanced Nurse Practitioner in Palliative Care, MRHT emphasises the importance of early support, “Starting palliative care early helps manage symptoms and improve quality of life. It’s not just for end-of-life, it’s about living well from the time of diagnosis.”
There also was a Palliative Care Week Talk held in the Hospital for staff on Monday 8th September with guest speaker Frances Neville, CNM3, Laois/Offaly, Specialist Palliative Care Team and Dr Mark Howard, Palliative Medicine Consultant. The talk highlighted the resources available in the community for palliative care, focusing on the role of the Community Specialist Palliative Care Team in supporting patients and families.
Key topics included:
- Expectations and care for the dying person at home
- Multidisciplinary collaboration between the hospital and community teams
- Ensuring a seamless transition between hospital and home care settings
This integrated approach helps provide consistent, compassionate care tailored to individual needs across all stages of the palliative journey.
Frances Neville, CNM3, Laois/Offaly, Specialist Palliative Care Team said “through strong teamwork across health and social care teams, we strive to provide palliative care to individuals in their homes, communities and a variety of care settings. Living well is what matters and placing people and their families at the centre of care, we ensure that their wishes, values and needs guide every decision.”
Louisea Burke, General Manager at MRHT, expressed her support, “We’re proud of our Palliative Care Team. Through education and awareness, we want to help patients and families live as well as possible for as long as possible.”
For more information, visit thepalliativehub.com.
Photo Captions:
- Pictured at the Palliative Care Week Talk held in Midland Regional Hospital on Monday 8th September: Dr Mark Howard, Palliative Medicine Consultant; Frances Neville, CNM3 Laois/Offaly Specialist Palliative Care Team; and Zara Dagg, End of Life Care Coordinator.
- Pictured at the Palliative Care Week Awareness stand held in Midland Regional Hospital on Thursday 11th September: Brendan Malone, Acting Director of Nursing; Maura Ryan, CNS; and Zara Dagg, End of Life Care Coordinator.
