St. Christopher's Hospice
Encyclopedia
St. Christopher's Hospice is a hospice
in South London
, England
established in 1967 by Cicely Saunders
, whose work is considered the basis of modern hospice philosophy.
, who took Saunders' philosophies back to the United States to become the founder of the hospice movement in the United States. In 1971 Robert Twycross
was appointed as a Clinical Research Fellow by Saunders. During his tenure there, his studies on the effectiveness of morphine
, diamorphine and methadone
helped standardize and simplify the management of cancer pain.
Hospice
Hospice is a type of care and a philosophy of care which focuses on the palliation of a terminally ill patient's symptoms.In the United States and Canada:*Gentiva Health Services, national provider of hospice and home health services...
in South London
South London
South London is the southern part of London, England, United Kingdom.According to the 2011 official Boundary Commission for England definition, South London includes the London boroughs of Bexley, Bromley, Croydon, Greenwich, Kingston, Lambeth, Lewisham, Merton, Southwark, Sutton and...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
established in 1967 by Cicely Saunders
Cicely Saunders
Dame Cicely Mary Saunders, was a prominent Anglican, nurse, physician and writer, involved with many international universities...
, whose work is considered the basis of modern hospice philosophy.
Legacy
Among the first staff at St. Christopher's was Florence WaldFlorence Wald
Florence Wald was an American nurse, former Dean of Yale School of Nursing, and largely credited as "the mother of the American hospice movement".-Biography:...
, who took Saunders' philosophies back to the United States to become the founder of the hospice movement in the United States. In 1971 Robert Twycross
Robert Twycross
Robert Twycross is a retired British physician and writer. He was a pioneer of the hospice movement during the 1970s, when he helped palliative care gain recognition as an accepted field of modern medicine....
was appointed as a Clinical Research Fellow by Saunders. During his tenure there, his studies on the effectiveness of morphine
Morphine
Morphine is a potent opiate analgesic medication and is considered to be the prototypical opioid. It was first isolated in 1804 by Friedrich Sertürner, first distributed by same in 1817, and first commercially sold by Merck in 1827, which at the time was a single small chemists' shop. It was more...
, diamorphine and methadone
Methadone
Methadone is a synthetic opioid, used medically as an analgesic and a maintenance anti-addictive for use in patients with opioid dependency. It was developed in Germany in 1937...
helped standardize and simplify the management of cancer pain.