The Wolfson Palliative Care Research Centre brings together researchers, health and social care professionals from a range of disciplines, patients, families and members of the public to find and help deliver the best palliative care services and treatments.
About us
We conduct palliative care research, and provide education and information relevant to the needs of people living with and dying from serious illness, their families and communities. We aim to improve quality of life and reduce inequalities in care, especially those driven by socio-economic status and diagnosis.
We are committed to involving patients, carers, families and local communities as active partners in shaping our research. We want to make sure that people with many different perspectives and experiences have the chance to influence what we do and how we do it. This helps us to focus on what really matters to people.
We aim to acknowledge all who have contributed to our work; University of Hull is signed up to the Science Council’s Technical Commitment initiative – and we implement this approach.
What is palliative care?
Palliative care is the active total care of people with progressive, life-limiting illness to help them to live well through control of symptoms, support for psychological, social and spiritual concerns and care for their families and friends.
Palliative care can be applied as an extra layer of care alongside treatment of medical conditions which aims to cure or prolong life. It should be available according to need, and not restricted by diagnosis or prognosis.
Wolfson announced as new NIHR Policy Research Unit
We are delighted that the Wolfson Palliative Care Research Centre, in partnership with King’s College London, has been awarded funding by the National Institute for Health and Care Research for a Policy Research Unit in Palliative and End of Life Care (NIHR awards over £100 million to new Policy Research Units).
Professor Fliss Murtagh from the Centre here at University of Hull, with Professor Katherine Sleeman from King’s College London, will together co-lead the Palliative and End of Life Care Policy Research Unit, which is funded for three years.
This brings excellent opportunities to deliver robust policy-related evidence to inform policy and improve care for those with advanced illness and their families.
Annual report
Download our Annual Report: 2021 to 2022 (PDF)
Discover more about our Centre and our research
The work of the Centre is making a real difference to patient’s lives – and their families too.
Discover more about our inspirational people and our impactful research through our pages below.
If you are inspired by our research and you would like to collaborate, visit or study with us, please do get in touch: WolfsonPallCare@hyms.ac.uk
Latest Wolfson news
New online course: Managing Chronic Breathlessness
15 November 2023
A new free online course, called Managing Chronic Breathlessness, is now available on the NHS Learning Hub. The course aims to help health professionals understand how chronic breathlessness can still be improved even when the underlying condition cannot.
This course was developed by a team which included Dr Flavia Swan and Dr Ann Hutchinson from the Wolfson Palliative Care Research Centre.
Visit the Managing Chronic Breathlessness course on the NHS Learning Hub
Professor Koffman awarded Helen H Lawson Award at BMA research event
3 November 2023
Congratulations to Professor Jonathan Koffman, together with colleague Dr Matthew Allsop (Associate Professor of Palliative Care at University of Leeds), who were awarded the Helen H Lawson Award to assist research into end-of-life care decision-making at the BMA Foundation for Medical Research event on 1 November. This award will enable them to further explore the role of shared records in supporting decision making in advanced illness.