ABOUT US
About palliativedrugs.com Ltd.
About the editorial staff
Acknowledgements
About palliativedrugs.com Ltd
Palliativedrugs.com Ltd was founded in 2000 by Robert Twycross and Andrew Wilcock to promote and disseminate information about the use of drugs in palliative care, through the book, PDF and website versions of the Palliative Care Formulary.
In addition to providing drug information, we are keen to develop a sense of community for members of the website. We welcome comments about how easy the website is to use, any information about the drugs featured or suggestions for other drugs to be included. A bulletin board is provided on the website in order to stimulate questions and debate, and for you to share your experiences with other colleagues. We continually highlight particular areas of interest relating to the use of drugs in palliative care and undertake in-house surveys about aspects of clinical practice.
We are committed to providing high quality information as well as keeping as much as possible of the website a free-access resource. You can financially support the work of palliativedrugs.com by buying your personal copy of the Palliative Care Formulary (book, PDF or website version) or other books by palliativedrugs.com, and by completing market research surveys when invited to do so from time to time.
Disclosures:
- palliativedrugs.com is mostly funded through sales of the Palliative Care Formulary and other books. We receive no funds direct from pharmaceutical companies, other than via third parties to (a) permit free distribution of some of our content over which we have complete editorial control, e.g. Syringe Driver Compatibility Charts, or (b) for hosting market research
- palliativedrugs.com does not host advertisements
- palliativedrugs.com has no conflicts of interest.
About the editorial staff
Editors-in-chief
Robert Twycross MA, BMBCh, DM Oxon, FRCP, FRCR, trained at Oxford University Medical School (1959–65), and then worked mainly in general medicine for several years. He was Research Fellow in Therapeutics at St Christopher’s Hospice, London (1971–76), where he completed studies of diamorphine, morphine and methadone in the management of cancer pain. Former Clinical Reader in Palliative Medicine, Oxford University (1988–2001) and Consultant Physician in Palliative Medicine, Sir Michael Sobell House, Churchill Hospital, Oxford (1976–2001). Also Head, WHO Collaborating Centre for Palliative Care (1988–2005), and for some 10 years was the Academic Director of the Oxford International Centre for Palliative Care. He has written some 300 articles, chapters and editorials, and is the author of several books, including Pain Relief in Advanced Cancer (Churchill Livingstone, Edinburgh 1994); Symptom Management in Advanced Cancer (4th edition, with Andrew Wilcock and Claire Stark Toller, palliativedrugs.com Ltd. 2009); and Introducing Palliative Care (4th edition, Radcliffe Medical Press, Oxon 2003). He has been a Director and co-Editor-in-chief of the Palliative Care Formulary (www.palliativedrugs.com) since its inception in 1998.
He is a founder member of the International Association for the Study of Pain, the Association for Palliative Medicine (UK), the British Lymphology Society, and the European Association for Palliative Care. He has taught in nearly 50 countries, and has had particularly close ties with Argentina, Hungary, India and Poland.
He was awarded the Aid and Cooperation Medal, Ministry of Health & Social Welfare, Poland (1993); the Founder's Award, National Hospice Organization, USA (1994); the Serturner Prize, Germany (1995); the Vittorio Ventafridda Award of the International Association for Hospice & Palliative Care (2006); the Lifetime Achievement Award of both the American Academy of Hospice & Palliative Medicine and the Indian Association of Palliative Care (2008), followed by a Plaque of Honour (2012). He is an honorary life member of several learned societies.
Andrew Wilcock DM Nottm, FRCP London is Macmillan Clinical Reader in Palliative Medicine and Medical Oncology, Nottingham University; Consultant Physician, Hayward House, Macmillan Specialist Palliative Care Unit, Nottingham University Hospital NHS Trust, and Director, palliativedrugs.com Ltd. He leads a Research Team with a particular interest in breathlessness and exercise capacity with an overall aim of helping to keep people with cancer as physically independent as possible for as long as possible. Served as member of the NCRI Palliative Care Studies Group, including Chair of the cachexia subgroup. Palliative care prescribing advisor to the British National Formulary. An author of the 3rd and 4th editions of Symptom Management in Advanced Cancer. Previously Chair of the Mid-Trent Cancer Services Network Palliative Care Group, Nottingham Cancer Centre Palliative Care Group, inaugural Secretary for the Science Committee of the Association for Palliative Medicine of Great Britain and Ireland and member of the National Institute for Clinical Excellence Lung Cancer Guidelines Development Group.
Paul Howard BMedSci BMBS Nottm, MRCP London, Consultant in Palliative Medicine and Medical Director at Earl Mountbatten Hospice, Newport, Isle of Wight. He trained in general then palliative medicine in Nottingham, Mansfield and Derby. He has experience of interventional, pharmaco-epidemiological and laboratory-based research. His publications include therapeutics and the causation and preventability of drug-related morbidity. He has a strong interest in therapeutics and medicines optimisation, attending Drug Advisory Committees and participating in guideline development regionally and with NICE. His other clinical interests include acupuncture and applying mindfulness to symptom management. Specific contributions to the Palliative Care Formulary include neuropharmacology, adjuvant analgesia, and drugs and driving.
Senior Editor (PCF5)
Sarah Charlesworth BPharm (Hons) DipClinPharm, MRPharmS is a Specialist Pharmacist in Palliative Care Information and Website Management for www.palliativedrugs.com at Hayward House Macmillan Specialist Palliative Care Unit, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust. She has a background in hospital clinical pharmacy and pharmacy sterile production management including active involvement in adult and paediatric nutrition teams. She has a Pharmacy Clinical Diploma and a distinction in the Postgraduate Certificate for Managing Health Services (Nottingham Trent University). Primarily responsible for several PCF sections (CSCI, compatibility charts, drugs via feeding tubes) and the continual updating of several website sections (news, additions, surveys, document library, Syringe Driver Survey Database (SDSD)).
Editor
Claire Stark Toller MA, MA, MRCP is a Consultant in Palliative Medicine, Countess Mountbatten House, University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust. Early studies majored on cardiac physiology and pharmacology, neuropharmacology, and psychiatric disorders. Her MA was in Medical Law and Ethics, with a dissertation on Slippery Slopes and End-of-Life Decision-Making. She has conducted research into decision making at the end of life, and is a former member of the Ethics committee of the Association for Palliative Medicine. She is co-author of the 4th edition of Symptom Management in Advanced Cancer. Specific contributions to the Palliative Care Formulary include the endocrine system, urinary tract disorders, and anaemia.
Associtate Editor (former senior editor)
Julie Mortimer BPharm (Hons) MRPharmS is a freelance pharmaceutical writer and editor. She graduated from Nottingham University in 1981 and qualified as a pharmacist in 1982 after completing her preregistration year at Nottingham General Hospital. Following basic grade rotation at Nottingham City Hospital, she became Staff Pharmacist (Formulary) for Leicestershire hospitals. Her duties involved updating the Leicestershire Prescribing Guide and assisting in the Regional Medicines Information Centre, Leicester Royal Infirmary. Subsequently, became a freelance pharmaceutical writer and editor, with principal clients including ADIS International Ltd and Douglas Science Editing Services, Japan. She has worked with palliativedrugs.com since 2004, helping with editing and copy editing of the PCF and liaising with overseas editors (US and Canadian editions).
Editorial Board
Jason Boland PhD, MRCP
Senior Clinical Lecturer and Honorary Consultant in Palliative Medicine, Hull York Medical School, University Of Hull, UK
Andrew Broadbent BMedSc, MHM, FRACP, FAChPM
Hammondcare Director of Palliative Care, Northern Sydney, Head of Palliative Care Royal North Shore Hospital, Senior Lecturer University of Sydney, NSW, Australia
Rachel Burman MA, FRCP
Consultant in Palliative Care, King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Cicely Saunders Institute, London, UK
Venkata Chaitanya MRCP
Consultant in Palliative Medicine, Derby Hospitals NHS Trust, Derby, UK
Alpna Chauhan MRCP
Consultant in Palliative Medicine, John Eastwood Hospice, Sutton-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire, UK
Brian Creedon MMedSci, MRCPI
Consultant in Palliative Medicine, Waterford Regional Hospital, Waterford, Ireland
Vincent Crosby FRCP
Consultant in Palliative Medicine, Hayward House Specialist Palliative Care Unit, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, Nottingham, UK
Andrew Davies MSc, MD, FRCP
Consultant in Palliative Medicine, St. Luke’s Cancer Centre, Royal Surrey County Hospital, Guildford, UK
Joanne Droney, PhD, MRCPI
Consultant in Palliative Medicine, Royal Marsden Hospital, London, UK
Jo Elverson MA(Ed) MRCP
Consultant in Palliative Medicine, Helen and Douglas House Hospices for Children & Young Adults, Oxford, UK
Ruth England MRCP
Consultant in Palliative Medicine, Derby Hospitals NHS Trust, Derby, UK
Marie Fallon MD, FRCP
St Columbas Hospice Chair of Palliative Medicine, University of Edinburgh and Edinburgh Cancer Centre, UK.
Jeff Fry BSc, PhD
Associate Professor and Reader in Molecular Toxicology, School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Nottingham Medical School, Nottingham, UK
Catherine Gwilt BSc, MRCP
Specialist Registrar in Palliative Medicine, KSS Palliative Medicine rotation, London, UK
Vanessa Halliday PhD, RD
Lecturer in Public Health, School of Health and Related Research, University of Sheffield, UK
Janet Hardy BSc, MD, FRACP
Director, Department of Palliative and Supportive Care, Mater Health Services, Brisbane; Professor of Palliative Medicine, University of Queensland, Australia
Miriam Johnson MD, FRCP, MRCP
Professor of Palliative Medicine, Hull York Medical School, University of Hull, Hull, UK
Paul Keeley FRCP
Consultant in Palliative Medicine, Glasgow Royal Infirmary, Glasgow, Scotland, UK.
Vaughan Keeley PhD, FRCP
Consultant in Palliative Medicine, Derby Hospitals NHS Trust, Derby, UK
Samuel King MRCP
Palliative Medicine Consultant, St Elizabeth Hospice and Ipswich Hospital Trust, Ipswich, Suffolk, UK
Malgorzata Krajnik MD, PhD
Head of Palliative Care Department, Nicolaus Copernicus University, L Rydygier Collegium Medicum, Bydgoszcz, Poland; Consultant in Palliative Medicine, University Hospital No 1, Bydgoszcz, Poland
Susie Lapwood MA, MRCGP, DFSRH, DipPallMed
Head of Research, Education and Professional Development and Senior Speciality Doctor, Helen and Douglas House Hospices for Children & Young Adults, Oxford UK
Mark Lee MD, MRCP
Consultant in Palliative Care, St Benedict’s Hospice and Specialist Palliative Care Centre, Sunderland, UK
Vivian Lucas MA, MRCGP, DA, DRCOG
Medical Director, Garden House Hospice, Letchworth Garden City, UK
Michael Lucey MB, BMedSc, FRCPI
Consultant in Palliative Medicine, Milford Hospice, Limerick and HSE mid West, Ireland
Staffan Lundstrom MD, PhD
Department of Palliative Medicine, Stockholms Sjukhem Foundation and Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden
Tim Morgan BSc, FRCP, FRCS
Macmillan Consultant and Lead Physician in Palliative Medicine, Roxburghe House and Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, NHS Grampian and Honorary Senior Lecturer, Aberdeen University, UK
Simon Noble MD, FRCP, Dip Pall Med,
Clinical Reader in Palliative Medicine, Cardiff University, UK
Victor Pace FRCP, FRCS, DipPallMed
Consultant in Palliative Medicine, St Christopher’s Hospice, London, UK
Rachel Quibell MRCGP, FRCP
Consultant in Palliative Medicine, Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals FT and Marie Curie Hospice, Newcastle, UK
Joy Ross PhD, MRCP
Consultant in Palliative Medicine, Royal Marsden Hospital, London, UK
John Shaw PhD
Hayward House Study Centre, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, City Campus, Nottingham, UK
Anna Spathis MA, MSc, MRCP, MRCGP, FHEA
Consultant in Palliative Medicine, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Cambridge, UK
Mark Taubert MRCGP, MSc, DipPallMed
Consultant in Palliative Medicine, Holme Tower Marie Curie Centre, Penarth, UK
Jillian Wall MRCP
Registrar in Palliative Medicine, Hayward House Specialist Palliative Care Unit, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, Nottingham, UK
Rebecca White BSc, MSc, MRPharmS (IPresc), FFRPS
Consultant Pharmacist: Nutrition & Intestinal Failure, Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust, Oxford, UK
Zbigniew Zylicz MD, PhD
Consultant in Palliative Medicine, Hildegard Hospiz, Basel, Switzerland
Acknowledgements
The production of a book of this nature depends partly on the help and advice of numerous colleagues, both past and present. We acknowledge with gratitude the support of clinical colleagues, and members of the palliativedrugs.com community who have provided feedback, particularly via surveys or by contributing to the Syringe Driver Survey Database.
We acknowledge with thanks the advice provided by various correspondents, including: Victoria Barnett, Claudia Bausewein, James Beattie, Christopher Blick, Ronald Elin, Bethany Foster, Philippa Hawley, Sue Hollingsworth, Aleksandra Kotlinska-Lemieszek, Louise Lynch, Mary Mihalyo, Eva Murphy, Renee Page, Russell Portenoy, Constanze Remi, Jan Rémi, John Shuster, Nigel Sykes, and by Medical Information Departments in the pharmaceutical industry.
We are grateful to Sarah Keeling for co-ordinating production, John Shaw for assistance in copy-editing, and to Karen Isaac for secretarial support.