Palliative Medicine - Dr Chris Farnham

"I am a Palliative Medicine Consultant and obtained my CCT in 1999. I have worked across a multitude of care settings from rural Herefordshire and Mid Wales to central London and UCH. I have been a Medical Director of two hospices and a Community Trust and was education lead for the Association of Palliative Medicine as well as TPD for North London and was on the SAC for Palliative Medicine at the RCP. I have lectured widely and was the Faculty Lead for the RCP / APM taking Palliative Medicine to Pakistan and organised and set up national conferences for the APM. I have lead research into Communication Skills training, working with Royal Central School of Speech and Drama and RADA. I was a senior Lecturer at Queen Mary University leading on the End of Life Care program for Physician Associates and set up their training program, as well as Senior Lecturer at UCL for End of Life Training. 

We are a hospital support team working across the Trust to provide Palliative care support 24/7 seven days a week. The team consists of Medial and Nursing Consultants and Clinical Nurse Specialists. We see a wide spectrum of oncology and non cancer diagnosis, working in ED, ITU in Medicine and Surgery. You will be exposed to a broad spectrum of diagnosis and will learn how a multi professional holistic approach to assessing and managing symptoms in the acute setting as well as liaising with community teams to provide ongoing support and end of life care. The student will primarily be with the Palliative Medicine Consultant but will also see patients with the CNS team. They will be supervised by the Palliative Medicine Consultant and during the few days with the team, ensure that they are meeting any Medical School educational requirements as well as coping with the impact of being exposed to end of life care."