Louis Dundas Centre for Children's Palliative Care

 

The Beginning of the Louis Dundas Centre

In March 2010 ICH and GOSH, working with the GOSH Children's Charity were awarded funding from the True Colours Trust to support the establishment of the first Chair of Paediatric Palliative Care in the UK.  The Chair role was created as a resource with multiple aims. Through this appointment, the goals were to build an evidence base, increase research capacity and to have an impact on the Paediatric Palliative Care sector nationally and globally.  The Chair would work with organisations such as Together for Short Lives, a UK charity supporting families with a seriously ill child and the International Children's Palliative Care Network (ICPCN), a worldwide network of individuals and agencies working with children and young people with incurable or life-threatening illnesses regardless of where they are in the world. Through these collaborations, the work of the academic unit could in turn make its way to the government and policymakers.

The aims of this joint academic/clinical Centre hosted by both GOSH and ICH were "to conduct integrated, high quality, collaborative studies to inform practice; and the development and implementation of educational and training programs designed to meet the needs of professionals serving children and young people with palliative care needs in the UK and across the world."  The results of research were to be disseminated in high quality refereed journals, major texts and conferences.

Professor Myra Bluebond-Langner assumed the Chair in July 2010 with the added support of the Louis Dundas Centre (LDC) which Bruce and Ruth Dundas created to support and develop both the Palliative Care Team (PCT) at GOSH and the Academic Unit at ICH.  Initial funding enabled the Centre to hire:  Senior Research Associate, Research Associate and a Research Assistant.  The True Colours Trust through GOSH Children's Charity, provided funds for the Chair and a PA / Unit Administrator. The Marie Curie Palliative Care Research Unit (MCPCRU) at UCL agreed to make a Research Associate available to help carry forward research sharing on children over 16 and young people.