Care of the Dying - Where Palliative Care Meets ITU

In the latest episode of ICS Cast, host Jonny Wilkinson sits down with three leading palliative care specialists, Dr Steph Meddick-Dyson, Dr Sarah Grove, and Dr Katarina Rusinova, to delve into the critical intersection of palliative care and intensive care. This insightful discussion builds on their thought-provoking session "Outside the Box with Palliative Care Medicine" at the Intensive Care Society's State of the Art meeting in Birmingham in 2025.

The conversation highlights why care of the dying is so pivotal to the daily work of intensive care specialists, arguing that parallel palliative involvement should become far more routine and that all critical care clinicians should embrace core palliative principles as an integral part of their practice. Drawing on their expertise, the guests explore compassionate approaches to death in the ICU, effective strategies for discussing prognosis and goals of care, sensitive counseling of relatives, patients, and loved ones, and practical ways to integrate symptom management, emotional support, and ethical decision-making amid high-stakes critical illness.

This episode offers valuable reflections for intensivists, trainees, and the wider multidisciplinary team on enhancing end-of-life care without compromising the drive for recovery.