Tracey Bleakley, CEO of Hospice UK, discusses the issue of racism in palliative care with Dr Jamilla Hussain, and how the hospice and wider end of life care sector must work together to address this. 

Hospice UK’s Web Editor Leila Hawkins talks to Dr Rachel Clarke about her new book  Breathtaking – Inside the NHS in a time of pandemic, about her experiences of working on the frontline during the first wave of the Covid-19 outbreak. The palliative care doctor describes the unwavering dedication of NHS staff, the pain of being in the second wave of the virus, and her hopes for the future now there is a vaccine. “We had no treatments, no vaccines, it was a completely new virus. We didn't know if our PPE was going to protect us. We didn't know if we were going to bring Coronavirus into our houses and infect the people we love. We were frightened, but we wanted to help patients in need. We wanted to be where the need was greatest. “At the end of the day, I don't know what life is for if it isn't to try and help each other out when the need is there.”  

ehospice editor Leila Hawkins talks with Dr Rachel Clarke, author of the book Dear Life, a powerful memoir about end of life care.

Kevin Toolis has spent much of his career dealing with death, formerly as a journalist reporting and making films from conflict zones, but recently he started interrogating death and dying in a very personal way. He used his experiences with death to write ‘My Father’s Wake’, and reflect on how embracing the Irish way of dealing with death might help us to face our own mortality without fear. Kevin's book: 'My Father's Wake' Dying Matters onlineTwitter: @dyingmattersFacebook: www.facebook.com/DyingMatters/Instagram: @DyingMattersDying Matters is a part of Hospice UK, the national charity for hospice and palliative care. Charity registered in England and Wales No. 1014851, and in Scotland No. SC041112. 

Greg Wise is well known as an actor and producer, but recently he took up another occupation: trying to get people to talk more about death and dying. In this podcast, Greg shares his experience of becoming a full-time carer for his sister, Claire, after she was diagnosed with cancer, and what he learned from sitting by her bedside as she died. Greg's book: 'Not That Kind of Love' Dying Matters onlineTwitter: @dyingmattersFacebook: www.facebook.com/DyingMatters/Instagram: @DyingMattersDying Matters is a part of Hospice UK, the national charity for hospice and palliative care. Charity registered in England and Wales No. 1014851, and in Scotland No. SC041112. 

What can you learn from watching thousands of people die? When Dr Kathryn Mannix asked herself that question, she realised that she had a lot to offer beyond the normal scope of her job as a palliative care doctor, caring for people at the end of life. With four decades of clinical practice, Kathryn is uniquely placed to tell us what it is actually like to die, and in her book 'With the End in Mind', makes the case for approaching death not with fear, but with openness and understanding. Follow Kathryn @drkathrynmannixKathryn's book: 'With the End in Mind' Dying Matters onlineTwitter: @dyingmattersFacebook: www.facebook.com/DyingMatters/Instagram: @DyingMattersDying Matters is a part of Hospice UK, the national charity for hospice and palliative care. Charity registered in England and Wales No. 1014851, and in Scotland No. SC041112. 

Gary Andrews didn't expect to have to face the fact of death as soon as he did. He was away on a business trip when his wife Joy died suddenly, and he and his two children had to face grief head on. As an illustrator and an animator, Gary had already been working on a 'Doodle a Day' series to share with friends and family. After Joy died, the drawings became a way to for him to process his grief and chronicle his new life as a widower. They've been viewed by thousands of people on social media. Follow Gary: @garyscribblerDying Matters onlineTwitter: @dyingmattersFacebook: www.facebook.com/DyingMatters/Instagram: @DyingMattersDying Matters is a part of Hospice UK, the national charity for hospice and palliative care. Charity registered in England and Wales No. 1014851, and in Scotland No. SC041112.

For the first episode of our new season, we're talking to Dr Rachel Clarke, a palliative care doctor and former journalist who gained widespread notoriety as a leading campaigner in the junior doctors dispute of 2016. We chat to Rachel about what it's like to be a doctor who works with dying people every day, and why she believes it's so important for all of us to talk more openly about death and dying. Follow Rachel @doctor_oxford Rachel's book: 'Your Life in My Hands'Dying Matters onlineTwitter: @dyingmattersFacebook: www.facebook.com/DyingMatters/Instagram: @DyingMattersFind Dying Matters events in your area with our Awareness Week Map.Dying Matters is a part of Hospice UK, the national charity for hospice and palliative care. Registered in England and Wales No. 2751549. Charity registered in England and Wales No. 1014851, and in Scotland No. SC041112. VAT No 731 304476.

The theme of this year's Dying Matters Week was 'What Can You Do in Your Community?' It's a question we ask to challenge people to think about ways they can help the people in their lives to talk more openly about death and dying, and make plans for the end of life. Most Dying Matters events are structured with this goal in mind, but they will vary hugely depending on the community they take place in. Our guests this week are the organisers of one of the larger events in Dying Matters Week - the Pushing Up Daisies festival. Sue Robinson, Hannah Merriman, and Mary Clear are are all practicing death doulas: "lay experts" committed to accompanying those coming to the end of life, and their families. They started Pushing Up Daisies to help their community have more positive experiences talking about death and dying. Theme music is by Bernadette Ryan.Find out more about Pushing Up Daisies: www.pushingupdaisies.orgDying Matters online:  Twitter: @dyingmattersFacebook: www.facebook.com/DyingMatters/Instagram: @DyingMatters Dying Matters is a part of Hospice UK, the national charity for hospice and palliative care. Registered in England and Wales No. 2751549. Charity registered in England and Wales No. 1014851, and in Scotland No. SC041112. VAT No 731 304476.

Most of us are more likely to only start talking about death and dying as we get older - as the prospect gets nearer, more familiar, maybe even more relatable. However, as we all know, death doesn't just come for us at the end of a long life. It happens to the young too. Our guests this week passionately believe that it's really important to include the voices of young people in conversations about death and dying. Lucy Watts was told that her health and mobility problems were life-limiting when she was seventeen. Ever since then, she has become an advocate for young people who need palliative and end of life care, arguing that they have specific needs that cannot be met by children's or adult's services alone. We dig into what those needs are, as well as Lucy's own beliefs around death and dying, and why she challenges other people in her life to think and talk about it in the same way that she has had to.We also hear from Debbie Young and Joanie Speers, who worked with Gentle Dusk in Islington to set up a death cafe just for young people, providing them with their own space to talk about death and dying. Theme music is by Bernadette Ryan.Find out more about Lucy Watts on her blog: http://www.lucy-watts.co.uk/Find out more about Gentle Dusk: http://www.gentledusk.org.uk/  Dying Matters online:Twitter: @dyingmattersFacebook: www.facebook.com/DyingMatters/Instagram: @DyingMatters  Dying Matters is a part of Hospice UK, the national charity for hospice and palliative care. Registered in England and Wales No. 2751549. Charity registered in England and Wales No. 1014851, and in Scotland No. SC041112. VAT No 731 304476.