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.
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
Breathlessness exhibition is a hit at Freedom Festival
8 September 2023
Dr Ann Hutchinson took the Bringing Breathlessness Into View exhibition to Hull’s Freedom Festival this year.
Over five days there were 199 visitors, many of whom took a copy of the Guide to Living Well with Breathlessness to get tips on managing breathlessness for themselves, or those they care for.
Visitors said how striking the images were, and commented that it had changed how they think about breathlessness.
Wolfson announced as new NIHR Policy Research Unit
17 August 2023
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.