Big conversations

Learn about and inform our work on the key issues facing Hospice UK members across the UK.

How it works

Webinars

These are online sessions with a large audience, where we will share information about the key issues affecting our sector. They give you a chance to hear from from Hospice UK and invited experts.

These sessions are aimed at anyone working or volunteering in a Hospice UK member organisation.

Workshops

Our workshops are practical sessions that share best practice. They aim to develop your skills in a particular area so you can take work forward in your hospice.

Our workshops are facilitated by Hospice UK subject experts, in collaboration with specialists from elsewhere. They are open to anyone working or volunteering in a Hospice UK member organisation, and sometimes a wider, targeted audience.

Roundtables

These smaller sessions provide an opportunity for people who are interested in a particular topic to discuss it in depth and share their experiences. We will invite hospice leaders to a roundtable to help inform our joint work.

Each year, we produce a report that analyses financial information and identifies trends from independent, charitable hospices based on their published accounts. Separately, we conduct a quarterly top line review of hospice finances, which enables you to compare your hospice’s performance against aggregated figures from across the sector.

We will be presenting the most recent findings from both these activities in a webinar, with plenty of opportunities for you to ask questions.
This session will not be recorded so please encourage your colleagues to attend.

If you are already a member of our Financial Benchmarking network, we will automatically send you an invitation to this webinar. For those who are not in the network, please register here to join the session.
The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill will have its Second Reading in the House of Commons on 29 November, when MPs will vote on the principle of the Bill.
To ensure Hospice UK is prepared to engage with the detail of the legislation if it passes its Second Reading, we are organising three Big Conversations workshops with hospice staff and volunteers to hear your thoughts and reflections on its text. These will be held on:
- Friday 6 December from 11am - 1pm
- Tuesday 10 December from 2pm - 4pm
- Thursday 12 December from 2:30pm - 4:30pm
Register your interest in joining one of these workshops.
Please note that there will be a limit on the places available, and the workshops will be cancelled if the Bill does not pass the Second Reading.

On 23rd October 2024 we discussed the proposed legislation on assisted dying in England and Wales, and its potential impact on hospices. We covered:
- Hospice UK’s position on assisted dying and our activity across the UK
- a summary of the proposed legislation in Westminster and how the Bill is likely to progress
- key issues that could impact English and Welsh hospices
- how we can best engage with hospices and their staff on this issue moving forward.
Read our position on assisted dying
In this workshop on 3rd July 2024, we were joined by Dr. Sabrina Bajwah from the Cicely Saunders Institute at King’s College London, Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery & Palliative Care. Dr Bajwah facilitated a discussion about how hospices across the UK can deliver equitable palliative and end of life care to all ethnicities.
Educational film
- The discussion was informed by the educational film Shifting the focus from equality to equity, which was developed by Dr Bajwah and her team.
Helpful resources
- Bignall T and Phillips J. Improving the recording of ethnicity in health datasets: Exploring the views of community respondents and the healthcare workforce [Internet]. Race Equality Foundation; 2022 [cited 2024 Jul 11].
- Bajwah S, Koffman J, Hussain J, Bradshaw A, Hocaoglu MB, Fraser LK et al. Specialist palliative care services response to ethnic minority groups with COVID-19: equal but inequitable—an observational study. BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care [Internet]. 2021 [cited 2024 Jul 11];14:e1478–e1487.
In this webinar on 27th June 2024, we asked how complexity can be measured in the context of palliative care. We explored how increasing complexity links to the resources needed to deliver care, and how this might link to costs and reimbursement.
Speakers included Gary Stinson, Payment Development Manager, NHS England; Matthew Grant, Palliative Medicine Physician/Assistant Professor at University Medical Centre Utrecht and University of Melbourne; Fliss Murtagh, Director of the Wolfson Palliative Care Research Centre.
Download the slides from the session
- Gary Stinson and Matthew Grant's presentations
- Fliss Murtagh's presentation
Helpful resources
- ElMokhallalati Y, Bradley SH, Chapman E, Ziegler L, Murtagh FEM, Johnson M J, et al. Identification of patients with potential palliative care needs: A systematic review of screening tools in primary care. Palliative Medicine [Internet]. 2020 [cited 2024 Jul 01];34(8):989-1005.
- Grant M, de Graaf E, Teunissen S. A systematic review of classifications systems to determine complexity of patient care needs in palliative care. Palliative Medicine [Internet]. 2021 [cited 2024 Jul 01];35(4):636-650.
- Pask S, Pinto C, Bristowe K, et al. A framework for complexity in palliative care: A qualitative study with patients, family carers and professionals. Palliative Medicine [Internet]. 2018 [cited 2024 Jul 01];32(6):1078-1090.
- Marie Curie. Understanding the cost of end of life care in different settings. [Internet] Marie Curie; 2012 [cited 2024 Jul 01].
- Murtagh FEM, Guo P, Firth A, Yip KM, Ramsenthaler C, Douiri A, et al. A casemix classification for those receiving specialist palliative care during their last year of life across England: the C-CHANGE research programme. Programme Grants for Applied Research [Internet] 2023 [cited 2024 Jul 01];11(7).
On 11th June 2024 we explored the creation of a national career pathway for nurses and allied health professionals in palliative and end of life care (PEOLC). We were joined by Professor Vanessa Taylor, Huddersfield University and Lesley Goodburn, NHS England. They shared their expertise and insights on:
- the development of a core capability framework and associated qualifications, designed to enhance specialised expertise for PEOLC nurses
- the progress made so far in these initiatives and the potential implications for the clinical workforce
- how resources developed to share lived experience might support education and development.
Watch a recording and download the slides
On 23rd May 2024 we shared the key findings from our Service Activity and Workforce surveys.

This included:
- what the data from the surveys is telling us about the national picture of hospice care
- ways we can improve the data
- how we might use it to showcase the value of hospice care.
Watch a recording and download the slides
Read our summary of data about the hospice sector in the UK
We were joined on 14th May 2024 by Karen Hayllar, the Senior Lead in NHS England’s ‘Making Data Count’ team.
Karen explained the value of statistical process control (SPC) charts to analyse patient safety incident data as part of a hospice’s continuous improvement journey.
We learnt:
- the differences between quality assurance and performance management
- how recognising variation in data over time can be used to support conversations about safety and quality.
Watch a recording of the webinar

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the Masonic Charitable Foundation for their generous funding to support the hospice care sector.

This provides opportunities for hospices to engage in learning, share insights, discuss challenges with peers and receive practical guidance to help improve their work.

Masonic Charitable Foundation Grants Lists

Find lists of grants issued by Masonic Charitable Foundation to hospices.

Find out more

Big conversations

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