AlphaMED Resources · https://alphamedicine.uk/Resources/palliative-care

Palliative care

Palliative care relieves pain and other symptoms and supports the patient and their family when an illness cannot be cured.

Updated 12 October 2026 (1 minute read)

Summary

  • It can begin at diagnosis and run alongside treatment aimed at the disease.
  • End of life care is the part of it given in the last months of life.
  • It is delivered by hospitals, hospices, GPs and community nurses.
  • Since 2022 integrated care boards in England have had a legal duty to commission it.

Interview questions

  • What is the difference between palliative care and end of life care?
  • Why might a patient with cancer be referred to palliative care soon after diagnosis?
  • Hospices rely heavily on charity. Should the NHS fund them in full?

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Cases that turn on it

Sudiksha Thirumalesh and mental capacity Autonomy She was 19, awake, and wanted to try an experimental treatment abroad. A judge decided she could not make that choice for herself. Ten months after her death, the Court of Appeal said the judge had got it wrong.

More NHS hot topics, medical ethics case studies and medical school interview questions are in AlphaMED Resources, which we add to and update through the application cycle.