A leading palliative medicine specialist at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has been awarded a prestigious national research fellowship to improve care for people at the very end of life, particularly those whose voices are so often unheard.
Dr Catriona Mayland, honorary consultant in palliative medicine at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Senior Clinical Lecturer at the University of Sheffield, has been granted a highly competitive National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Advanced Fellowship.
Her work will centre on understanding care in the final days of life – particularly for people dying at home or in care homes – and aims to better include ethnically diverse and socioeconomically disadvantaged communities in palliative care research.
Improving end-of-life care at home and in care homes
The fellowship comes at a pivotal time, as national conversations around assisted dying continue to raise questions about the quality and accessibility of end-of-life care. For people nearing the end of life, including those living with life-limiting or life-threatening illnesses, good palliative and end-of-life care is vital. It must meet their physical, emotional, spiritual and practical needs. Poor care can result in suffering, complicated grief for loved ones and avoidable hospital admissions.
Through her fellowship, Dr Mayland seeks to generate robust evidence to improve care quality, highlight best practices, and develop more inclusive and compassionate research methods that reflect the diversity of patients and their families.
Addressing inequality and amplifying unheard voices in palliative care
“Compared with other specialties, it is less common for a clinician with a background in palliative medicine to embark on a research career”, the Trust stated. Dr Mayland hopes her work will pave the way for other aspiring leaders in health and social care research to receive tailored support for both professional and personal development.
Dr Mayland said: “I am truly honoured to be awarded this significant fellowship which highlights the growing importance of palliative care and the need for research that includes all voices, especially those so often unheard. I hope it encourages others, especially in underrepresented areas like palliative medicine, to pursue clinical academic careers. Above all, my goal is to contribute to better experiences for patients and those important to them during such critical times.”
Recognition for research excellence in palliative medicine
Professor Mark Cobb, clinical director for therapeutics & palliative care at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, praised the achievement:
“We are delighted that Catriona has been awarded this prestigious fellowship which recognises her significant research in this field and her plans to develop it further. It is a real badge of honour among researchers and we are very proud of Catriona as palliative care is an under-researched area of clinical practice.”
Dr Mayland’s work promises to shine a vital spotlight on the experiences of those often overlooked in healthcare research, ensuring that the voices of all patients and their families are heard and respected at the most critical moments in life. The project will take place over a four-year period.
