Doctor and writer Kate Granger was the focus of the second ever Dying Matters Annual Lecture on Monday evening, which marked the beginning of Dying Matters Awareness week, which runs from 12-18 May.
Kate, a Specialist Registrar in Geriatric Medicine, has incurable cancer. After five gruelling rounds of chemotherapy following her diagnosis with a rare and aggressive form of sarcoma in July 2011, she decided to stop receiving treatment and concentrate on enjoying a good quality of life.
Since then, Kate has written two books, and blogs and tweets extensively about living with cancer and, in particular, her experiences as a patient. She has also launched the “hello my name is” campaign after becoming frustrated by the number of medical staff who failed to introduce themselves to her when she was being treated. The campaign has been endorsed by several senior nurses at NHS England, including chief nursing officer Jane Cummings and Head of Commissioning Michelle Mello.
The lecture ‘You Only Die Once: Kate Granger’s story’ took place at the Royal College of Physicians in London. As part of the event, Dying Matters commissioned a film of Kate and her husband, Chris, who also spoke at the event.