This course is amongst the UK’s leading courses for palliative care nurses, pharmacists and doctors. Almost 350 people attended to date in 2024. For nearly 50 years it has delivered cutting edge knowledge and skills to healthcare practitioners so they can provide their patients with the best possible care. Dr Mary Miller has led the course since 2008, developing a unique course each year.
Organisations get value for money as the course delivers high standards of professional knowledge, is educationally sound allowing staff time for discussion and supports staff in setting continuing educational goals for the year following the course.
Feedback in 2024: ‘I continue to be very impressed by the high standards, excellent content and fantastic facilitation’
Any surplus income generated is ploughed back into education - as we are a charity.
In 2025, we will run a face to face course in Oxford and Newcastle. Lectures will be recorded and made available to all delegates attending the face to face courses as part of their supporting educational resources.
The option to watch the recordings is available for people who are unable to attend the face to face courses - see virtual course on our website.
Location: Oxford
CPD Credits: 12 CPD credits planned
+ Venue
Blavatnik school of government, University of Oxford, Radcliffe Observatory Quarter, Woodstock Road, Oxford, OX2 6GG.
The most Convenient accommodation near to the
BLAVATNIK SCHOOL OF GOVERNMENT, 120 Walton Street, OX2 6GG is
(Park and ride drop off stop = Old Radcliffe Infirmary (Maths Institute)
The Holiday Inn, Oxford Peartree Roundabout, Oxford - Use Redbridge 300 Park and Ride bus to venue
Travelodge, Oxford Peartree. Oxford, OX2 8JZ - Use Redbridge 300 Park and Ride bus to venue
Premier Inn, Westgate, Greyfriars Court, Paradise Square, Oxford OX1 1BE. Phone: 0333 003 8101 - Use Peartree 300 Park and Ride bus to venue
Keble College, Oxford [10 minute walk from venue]
https://www.keble.ox.ac.uk/conferences/accommodation/
Conference Oxford:
http://www.conference-oxford.com/bb-self-catering
Oxford Park and Ride Service
Cost: 1-16 hours (£2): 16-24 hours (£4): 24-48 hours (£8): 48-72 hours (£12)
Thornhill Park and Ride
London Road, Oxford (OX3 8DP) - located off the A40 from Thame, Aylesbury, High Wycombe, London and the M40 to the east of the city, just before the ring road. East of Oxford, 15 mins from city centre (400 bus to city centre).
Redbridge Park and Ride
Abingdon Road, Oxford (OX1 4XG) – Located off the A34 from Abingdon, Didcot and Newbury. This site is located to the south of the city. (300 bus to venue)
Peartree Park and Ride
21 Lakeside, Oxford (OX2 8JD) – Located off the A34 to the north of the city, this site can be accessed from the A40 (from Witney and Cheltenham). A4260 (from Kidlington), A34 (from Banbury, Bicester and Northampton) and the M40.
Seacourt Park and Ride
234 Botley Road, Oxford (OX2 0HP) – Located off the A420 from Swindon and Bath, to the west of the city on the Botley Road.
Oxford Parkway Park and Ride (OX2 8HA)
This site is located at Oxford Parkway Station to the north of the city and can be accessed from the A40 (from Witney and Cheltenham), A4260 (from Kidlington), A34 (from Banbury, Bicester and Northampton) and the M40.
+ Speakers
Confirmed speakers:
Dr Sarah Bishop Browne - Consultant palliative medicine, New South Wales, Australia
Dr Victoria Bradley - Consultant and Clinical Lead of the department of palliative care, Oxford
Dr Victoria Hedges - Consultant Palliative Medicine, Oxford
Dr Paul Howard - Consultant Palliative Medicine and Editor in chief of the Palliative Care Formulary
Dr Jessica Lee - Clinical Fellow telehealth, Marymount Hospice, Republic of Ireland
Dr Kirsten Smith - Department of experimental psychology, University of Oxford
Dr Jason Boland - Professor and Honorary Consultant in Palliative Medicine, Wolfson Palliative Care Research Centre, Hull York Medical School, University of Hull, UK
Dr Matt Maddocks - Professor of Health Services Research & Rehabilitation, Kings College London
Dr Ariel Dempsey - DPhil student, Faculty of theology and religion, University of Oxford
Dr Dempsey earned her MD at Michigan State University College of Human Medicine and is at University of Oxford completing a DPhil Science & Religion. She studies uncertainty in end-of-life care and how we can better deal with uncertainty in medicine. Her DPhil is on "Palliating Uncertainty," emphasizing an approach to uncertainty that is modelled after the ethos and values of palliative care and draws on tools from the philosophy of pragmatism. She helps design and teach a Medical Humanities Curriculum for the Oxford Medical School and is a Rotary Global Grant Scholar who has led trauma healing groups in Oxford. After the PhD, Ariel plans to do residency in psychiatry with fellowship in palliative care.
Dr Mary Miller - Course Lead. Consultant in Palliative Medicine, Sobell House, Honorary Senior Clinical Lecturer in Palliative Medicine, University of Oxford, Director OxCERPC (Oxford Centre for education and research in palliative care) and Clinical Lead for NACEL
Dr Miller qualified from University College Cork, Ireland in 1988. She trained and worked in palliative medicine in Ireland, Sweden and the UK and has been a consultant in palliative medicine in Oxford since 1998. Dr Miller has a strong interest in education; completing a Diploma in Learning and Teaching at Oxford University 2005, was Training Programme Director and Regional Specialty Advisor (2002 – 2008) and has led the Oxford Advanced Courses in Pain and Symptom Management since 2005. She is an elected member of the Education Committee of the Association of Palliative Medicine and joint lead of the postgraduate education special interest forum. Since the inception of OxCERPC in 2017, Dr Miller and the team are focusing on building an exciting portfolio of courses, building research readiness and reaching out to practitioners across the globe.
+ Course Programmes
A full programme is to follow shortly.
Dr Sarah Bishop Browne: Overview of the management of oral health in the palliative care population. Dr Bishop Browne will speak about oral candidiasis, considering management strategies in a time of antimicrobial stewardship.
Dr Victoria Bradley: Overview of the current evidence for the management of metastatic bone pain. Dr Bradley will describe the service improvement and evaluate that initiative in Oxford University Hospitals.
Dr Ariel Dempsey: Palliating Uncertainty: Tools from the Pragmatism of William James, MD. Dr Dempsey will introduce an approach to uncertainty called ‘Palliating Uncertainty,’ which brings together William James’ pragmatism with the ethos of palliative care. From this perspective, uncertainty is not always something to be ‘cured’ with more knowledge or technology, but something to palliate and live with.
Dr Victoria Hedges: Review of literature on opioid induced neurotoxicity.
Dr Paul Howard: The latest important information from the PCF, informing our clinical practice.
Dr Jessica Lee: Dr Lee will present the evidence base on problematic opioid use as well as the results of the international study she leads, which looks at clinician awareness of the predictors of problematic use.
Dr Mary Miller: Dr Miller will review the top 2024/25 publications on topics from the 2024 Oxford Advanced Courses. She will present the frontrunners, providing you with a reading list to support both your personal learning and your journal clubs for 2025/26.
Dr Kirsten Smith: Dr Smith will present the results of her work on prolonged grief disorder, setting this work in the context of the current evidence base for grief. Dr Smith will also describe her upcoming intervention study.
Dr Jason Boland: The management of nausea and gastrointestinal obstruction.
Dr Matt Maddocks: Non-pharmacological management of breathlessness.
+ Course Aims
The course aims to provide participants with:
- Knowledge to inform and update your practice
- Knowledge that is delivered by expert speakers
- Knowledge that develops between the speakers and the audience during questions and discussions
- Resources that can be used over the following 12 months to develop and extend your learning
- Resources that will support you to bring learning back to your workplace
- Resources that will help you develop your portfolio of evidence for appraisal and revalidation
- A means of ensuring your practice is at the cutting edge
- Time for thinking, questions and reflection
