The True Colours Chair in Palliative Care
In February 2010, Professor Myra Bluebond-Langner was appointed as the True Colours Chair in Palliative Care for Children and Young People. Professor Bluebond-Langner is the UK's first Chair in children's palliative care. This important academic position will shape and lead work in children's palliative care.
The Chair has been created thanks to the vision and funding from the True Colours Trust, one of the leading campaigners in the field of children's palliative care, in partnership with ACT (the Association for Children's Palliative Care) and Children's Hospices UK.
Palliative care for children and young people
Under the direction of the True Colours Chair, we have an obligation – and an amazing opportunity – to strengthen and expand our palliative care team at Great Ormond Street Hospital.
Led by the Chair, the Louis Dundas Centre is undertaking co-ordinated, high quality, collaborative studies to inform practice and policy in all areas of children’s palliative care.
Working with the hospital's clinical Palliative Care team, the centre is developing the highest standard of care and model best practices and will educate others in the medical profession, to ultimately benefit children throughout the UK and the world.
We are at a critical juncture in the development of palliative care for children and young people. As the field continues to advance we need to increase both the evidence-base and the capacity of the current work force to carry on the research and clinical work necessary to deliver the highest standard of care to these children and their families. My goal as the True Colours Chair in Palliative Care for Children and Young People is to help us to meet these challenges through the development and implementation of a multi-disciplinary and integrated programme of research, clinical practice and education. Professor Bluebond-Langner