DAME CICELY SAUNDERS, OM, DBE, FRCP, FRCN
FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT OF ST CHRISTOPHER’S HOSPICE
22 June 1918 - 14 July 2005
Please click here if would like to donate to our Dame Cicely Saunders Memorial Appeal
Dame Cicely Saunders died peacefully on Thursday 14 July 2005 at St Christopher’s Hospice in south London, the world-famous hospice that she founded in the 1960s, and the birthplace of the modern hospice movement. A Service of Thanksgiving for the life of Dame Cicely Saunders was held at Westminster Abbey on 8 March 2006.
Barbara Monroe, Chief Executive of St Christopher’s Hospice, said, “Dame Cicely’s vision and work has transformed the care of the dying and the practice of medicine in the UK and throughout the world. She is an inspiration to us all. We had been caring for Dame Cicely at St Christopher’s Hospice as a patient for some time. We will miss her very much. Her influence will carry on around the world as we work together in hospice and palliative care to support dying people and close to them.
It is a privilege to share in Dame Cicely’s vision and her work here at St Christopher’s. We are dedicated to improving care for dying people everywhere.
DAME CICELY - HER LIFE AND WORK
-
Born 22 June 1918 in Barnet, Hertfordshire, Dame Cicely trained as a nurse, a medical social worker and finally as a physician. Involved with the care of patients with terminal illness since1948, she lectured widely on this subject, wrote many articles and contributed to numerous books.
-
Dame Cicely founded St Christopher’s Hospice in 1967 as the first hospice linking expert pain and symptom control, compassionate care, teaching and clinical research. St Christopher’s has been a pioneer in the field of palliative medicine, which is now established worldwide. Through her single-minded vision, and the clinical practice and dissemination of her work through St Christopher’s teaching and outreach, Dame Cicely has revolutionised the way in which society cares for the ill, the dying and the bereaved.
-
Dame Cicely is recognised as the founder of the modern hospice movement and received many honours and awards for her work. She held more than 25 honorary degrees, from the UK and overseas. Awards included the British Medical Association Gold Medal for services to medicine, the Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion, the Onassis Prize for Services to Humanity, The Raoul Wallenberg Humanitarian Award and the Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms for Worship Medal.
-
Dame Cicely Saunders recognised the inadequacy of the care of the dying that was offered in hospitals. So often, patients and families were told that “there was nothing more that could be done” a statement that Dame Cicely refused to accept. Throughout her time at St Christopher’s her watchword has been “there is so much more to be done.”
-
Pioneering research on the use of morphine as an effective drug for pain control was carried out at St Christopher’s, along with other detailed studies of new approaches to symptom control. Dame Cicely also understood that a dying person is more than a patient with symptoms to be controlled. She became convinced of the paramount importance of combining excellent medical and nursing care with “holistic” support that recognised practical, emotional, social, and spiritual need. She saw the dying person and the family as the unit of care and developed bereavement services at St Christopher’s Hospice to extend support beyond the death of the patient.
ST CHRISTOPHER’S HOSPICE – A FRAME FOR THE FUTURE
-
Purpose-built by Dame Cicely, and opened in 1967, St Christopher’s Hospice became the embodiment of a new philosophy that has influenced health care throughout the world and led the way for a new attitude towards death, dying and bereavement. It is known as the birthplace of the modern hospice movement and its focus on the integration of care, education and research has led to a profound change in medical and nursing attitudes to death and to dying throughout the world.
-
St Christopher’s provides direct services to over 2,000 patients in the UK each year and supports hospice care in developing countries and through international partnerships. It shares skills and expertise with others through an extensive education, training and research programme which has improved care of the dying far beyond its geographical area.
-
St Christopher’s is one of the largest providers of specialist palliative care education in the world. More than 50,000 students have trained at St Christopher’s to become leading doctors, nurses and other palliative care professionals. They have established palliative care programmes in more than 120 other countries.
-
Hospice Information, a collaborative service with Help the Hospices, is the national and international information and signposting service for anyone with a professional or personal interest in hospice and palliative care.
-
St Christopher’s Hospice is a registered charity. Its care is free of charge to patients and families. Maintaining its services costs £11 million every year and the hospice relies solely on the generosity of the public through donations, legacies and grants to raise nearly £7 million of this. Only through this level of community support can St Christopher’s continue to care for people with cancer and other serious illness and to support their families and friends through the illness and into bereavement. St Christopher’s cares for more than 2,000 patients a year across south east London, Bromley and Croydon – around 500 at home on any one day.
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES:
Dame Cicely was educated at Roedean (1932-37), St. Anne''s College Oxford (1938 – 1939 and 1944-45). She trained as a nurse at St Thomas’s Hospital Nightingale School of Nursing from 1940-44; qualified AIMSW (Medical Social Worker) in 1947 and trained as a doctor at St Thomas’s Hospital Medical School (1951-57) qualifying MB, BS with Honours in surgery.
Extensively published from 1959 onwards, a full list of publications and access to archive material may be requested from Professor David Clark, University of Lancaster (email) d.clark@lancaster.ac.uk)
For more information, please contact Ann Herbert at St Christopher’s Hospice press office, telephone 020 8768 4585, email a.herbert@stchristophers.org.uk
