Palliative care – getting the focus right

Next time you visit the trade display at a palliative care conference, you will find a plethora of books on the subject, covering just about every conceivable aspect of this expanding field: “textbook”, “handbook”, “practical guide”, “core skills and competencies”, “pearls”, “practices”, “guidelines”, “emergencies” etc. Geoffrey Mitchell, professor of palliative care at the University of Queensland and well known in Australian palliative care circles, has found another angle that definitely needed covering: “a patient-centered approach” (a fundamental philosophical concept underpinning good quality palliative medicine practice but, surprisingly, not always well covered by the standard texts).