Latest news with #palliativeCare
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Thyme Care Triples Its Multidisciplinary Care Team with Increased Focus on Often-Overlooked Survivorship Population
Oncologist Dr. Asma Dilawari and palliative care physician Dr. Nelia Jain join to expand survivorship program and scale supportive care and palliative care services Expansion coincides with new patient-centered supportive care offerings, including enhanced social work, emotional support, and advanced social needs planning to provide continuous support across the entire cancer journey, from pre-diagnosis through survivorship or end-of-life care Rapid growth with commercial and Medicare Advantage health plans drives care team expansion across all roles, including medical directors, nurse practitioners, oncology nurses, social workers, and navigators NASHVILLE, Tenn., June 1, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Thyme Care, the leading value-based cancer care enabler, today announced a significant expansion of its survivorship program and comprehensive cancer care services with the appointment of two experienced medical directors: Dr. Asma Dilawari as medical director of oncology care, who will lead the company's survivorship program expansion, and Dr. Nelia Jain as medical director of palliative care, who will scale Thyme Care's virtual palliative care offering, called Enhanced Supportive Care. Drs. Dilawari and Jain join Thyme Care from the FDA and Devoted Health, respectively, with previous roles held at Georgetown University and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham and Women's Hospital. Survivorship Support For Clinical, Emotional, and Nutritional Needs Beyond Oncology CareMore than 18 million cancer survivors live in the U.S. today, and that number continues to grow as new therapeutics and treatment options lead people to live longer lives. Although survivorship is often a celebratory milestone, it doesn't mean their healthcare support should stop. Many patients continue to manage long-term side effects and emotional distress while continuing to take medications that reduce the risk of cancer recurrence, all while trying to return to work, care for their families, and navigate life after treatment. As someone who deeply understands this patient population, Dr. Dilawari will lead the expansion of Thyme Care's survivorship program to close the critical gaps survivors face. "With over 15 years of experience guiding oncology patients through survivorship, I'm excited to bring these insights to Thyme Care to design systems of support as they enter a new chapter of their care," said Dr. Dilawari. "These patients aren't in active treatment but still may require clinical, emotional, and nutritional guidance that often isn't adequately addressed. At Thyme Care, we want to meet these patients exactly where they are, with personalized care plans grounded in evidence-based guidelines and tailored to each survivor's health goals and needs." At Thyme Care, Dr. Dilawari will support patients in survivorship, continue to advance the company's Electronic Patient-Reported Outcomes (ePROs) program, and collaborate with Thyme Care Oncology Partners. She joins the company from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, where she served as a medical officer in the division of oncology. With over two decades of experience, including roles at Georgetown University and MedStar hospitals supporting survivorship patients, Dr. Dilawari brings regulatory insight and clinical expertise that will reinforce Thyme Care's ability to navigate the evolving oncology landscape. Multidisciplinary Support Across the Entire Cancer Journey Dr. Jain's focus will be to scale Thyme Care's palliative care program, called Enhanced Supportive Care, so that patients have support at every stage of their journey—from early detection through active treatment and into survivorship or end-of-life care. Dr. Jain, formerly the physician lead of complex care at Devoted Health, brings specialized expertise in palliative care and will lead Thyme Care's clinical team in caring for members with serious illness. She previously served as medical director of HeartPal, a palliative care service dedicated to the advancement of palliative care among patients living with advanced heart disease, at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham and Women's Hospital. At Thyme Care, Dr. Jain will see members for palliative care outpatient appointments, oversee interdisciplinary case conferences, and help scale Thyme Care's Enhanced Supportive Care program. "Thyme Care's commitment to addressing the whole person, not just their medical diagnosis, is what excites me most about joining the company," said Dr. Jain. "Their approach to patient-centered care aligns perfectly with my experience supporting patients with symptom management and complex decision-making across their illness trajectory. I look forward to expanding our palliative care offering across the nation and supporting our clinical team with education and resources to best support our members." Thyme Care has also expanded its emotional support services and advanced social needs assistance with the addition of Stephanie Broadnax Broussard, DSW, LCSW-S, APHSW-C, and a growing team of oncology social workers. Thyme Care recognizes that oncology social workers possess specialized expertise in cancer care, including the psychosocial, emotional, and practical impacts of the disease, its treatment, and the survivorship experience. Thyme Care's social workers are part of Thyme Care's virtual Care Team, consisting of nurse practitioners, oncology nurses, and healthcare navigators, who are closely integrated with the treating oncologist to provide total wraparound care, whether at the clinic, home, or elsewhere. This collaborative approach ensures patients receive coordinated support regardless of location or care setting. "Managing a cancer diagnosis requires more care than what our current system can offer. Our Care Team expansion reflects our commitment to supporting people with cancer in every aspect of their lives, not just their medical diagnosis. And with all the changes happening in our healthcare system, delivering coordinated, patient-first care is more important than ever before," said Dr. Julia Frydman, senior medical director who oversees the clinical team. "The additions of Dr. Dilawari, Dr. Jain, and Stephanie Broussard strengthen our ability to address the complex needs of our members and make a real impact on their cancer journey." About Thyme Care Thyme Care is the leading value-based care enabler, collaborating with payers and providers to transform the experience and outcomes for individuals living with cancer. The company partners with health plans, employers and risk-bearing providers to assume accountability for enhanced care quality, improved health outcomes, and reduced total cost of care. Thyme Care's approach combines a technology-enabled Care Team and seamless integration with more than 800 oncologists in Thyme Care Oncology Partners, creating a hybrid collaborative care model that guides and supports the entire patient journey. Thyme Care empowers oncologists nationwide through purpose-built tech, advanced data analytics, and virtual patient engagement, driving better care and outcomes in value-based arrangements. Thyme Care is a founding member of CancerX, and is backed by leading investors. To learn more about how Thyme Care is enabling the shift to value-based care in oncology, visit ContactKimberly DreisingerThyme Care Communicationspress@ View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE Thyme Care
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Hospice budgeting for £537,000 deficit
A hospice which offers end-of-life care is budgeting for a deficit in the current financial year of over half a million pounds on its running costs of more than £14m, a report has said. St Luke's Hospice in Sheffield faced a financial deficit of about £537,000 for 2025-26 despite fundraising efforts, according to its most recent Quality Account report. There remained "a lot of uncertainty around funding and support" for the 20-bed in-patient hospice in Whirlow, the report stated. However, the document added that "thanks to careful financial planning, diverse income streams, and strong cost controls, we remain confident in our ability to keep St Luke's sustainable for the future". According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, the report said rising staff costs continued to be "a big challenge, especially as NHS pay rises impact the wider job market". "The National Living Wage, rising National Insurance costs and the general increased costs of running our services all impact our finances," it said. "Our NHS South Yorkshire Integrated Care Board funding for 24-25 was 23%, with the remaining 77% being raised through our own activity, such as fundraising and retail." St Luke's, which in 2024 won a Care Quality Commission overall rating of "outstanding", provides end-of-life and palliative care to almost 1,800 people a year and supports their families and carers. As well as its in-patient centre, the hospice provides care to people in their own homes or care homes, accounting for 88% of its patients. In the Quality Account report, Jo Lenton, the hospice's new chief executive and chief nurse, said: "This year, we launched our new strategy for 2025-29, which will help us address some of the challenges our communities will face in the coming years, while also strengthening St Luke's sustainability in light of increasing pressures on multiple fronts. "Our new strategy centres around a new vision of a world where patients and families facing terminal illness don't feel alone, and receive the care and support they need to make the most of precious time, and experience a good death." The report is expected to be discussed by Sheffield City Council's health scrutiny sub-committee on 5 June. Listen to highlights from South Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North Hospice 'routinely' budgeting for annual deficits Kind and caring staff help hospice gain top rating St Luke's Hospice
The Guardian
5 days ago
- General
- The Guardian
French parliament prepares to vote on legalising assisted dying
France's parliament is preparing to vote on a controversial bill to legalise assisted dying, potentially paving the way for euthanasia under what campaigners say would nonetheless remain some of the strictest conditions in Europe. As part of a long-awaited package of end-of-life legislation delayed by President Emmanuel Macron's decision to dissolve parliament last year, MPs are also due to vote on Tuesday on a less contentious bill establishing the right to palliative care. Both votes are the start of a long parliamentary process that will require the bills to move on to the senate – the upper house – and then back to the lower house for a second reading, meaning they are unlikely to become law before next year. The government has described the right-to-die law as 'an ethical response to the need to support the sick and the suffering', insisting it was 'neither a new right nor a freedom … but a balance between respect and personal autonomy'. The bill would allow a medical team to decide if a patient is eligible to 'gain access to a lethal substance when they have expressed the wish'. Patients would be able to use it themselves or have it administered by a nurse or doctor 'if they are in no condition physically to do so themselves'. Patients must meet a number of strict conditions: they must be over 18, hold French citizenship or residency and suffer from a 'serious and incurable, life-threatening, advanced or terminal illness' that is 'irreversible'. The disease must cause 'constant, unbearable physical or psychological suffering' that cannot be addressed by medical treatment, and the patient must be capable of 'expressing freely and in an informed manner' their wish to end their life. The bill – referred to in France as a law on 'end of life' or 'aid in dying' rather than 'assisted suicide' or 'euthanasia' – is expected to be backed by Macron's centrist MPs and their allies and by the left, with right and far-right deputies likely to vote against. All parliamentary groups have been given a free vote to express their personal convictions. Euthanasia is a highly sensitive subject in France, a country with a longstanding Catholic tradition, and the bill is also opposed by many health workers. The prime minister, François Bayrou, a devout Catholic, has said he had 'questions' and would abstain if he were an MP, but Macron said last year that France needed the legislation because 'there are situations you cannot humanely accept'. France currently allows passive euthanasia – such as withholding artificial life support – and deep sedation before death, but patients seeking active end-of-life options have no choice but to travel to other countries where euthanasia is legal. Right-to-die campaigners have welcomed the law, though describing it as relatively modest in scope. 'It's a foot in the door, which will be important for what comes next,' said Stéphane Gemmani of the ADMD association. 'We've been waiting for this for decades. Hopefully France will steadily align itself with other European countries,' Gemmani said. 'Forcing people to go to Belgium or Switzerland, pay €10,000 or €15,000 … The current situation is just wrong.' Opinion polls show most French people are in favour of assisted dying, but France has been slower than many European neighbours to legalise it. Others are actively debating the issue, including the UK, where an assisted dying bill is before parliament. Sign up to Headlines Europe A digest of the morning's main headlines from the Europe edition emailed direct to you every week day after newsletter promotion Active euthanasia – where a caregiver induces death at the request of the patient, and assisted suicide – where doctors provide the patient with the means to end their life themselves – have been legal in the Netherlands and Belgium since 2002 under broadly similar conditions. A doctor and an independent expert must agree the patient is suffering unbearably and without hope of improvement. Both countries have since extended the right to children under 12. Luxembourg also decriminalised active euthanasia and assisted dying in 2009. Active euthanasia is outlawed in Switzerland, but assisted suicide has been legal since the 1940s and organisations such as Exit and Dignitas have helped thousands of Swiss nationals, residents and others to end their lives. Austria legalised assisted suicide in 2022, while Spain adopted a law in 2021 allowing euthanasia and medically assisted suicide for people with a serious and incurable illness, providing they are capable and conscious, the request was made in writing, reconfirmed later, and approved by an evaluation committee. Portugal decriminalised euthanasia in 2023 but the measure has not yet come into force after certain articles were rejected by the constitutional court. In the UK, MPs approved the legalisation of assisted dying in England and Wales for adults with an incurable illness who have a life expectancy of under six months and are able to take the substance that causes their death themselves, in a first vote in November last year. MPs must now vote on whether the text, amended in May to allow medics to opt out, is sent to the upper chamber for further scrutiny. The Scottish parliament has also passed its first vote on a bill to legalise assisted dying.
The Independent
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Timothy West died ‘peacefully' at care home after three-month hospital stay
Actor Timothy West died 'peacefully with his family around him' at a care home where he was receiving palliative care after a three-month stay in hospital following a fall, an inquest has heard. West, who was married to actress Prunella Scales for more than 60 years, starred in TV shows such as comedy drama Brass, sitcom Not Going Out and soaps Coronation Street and EastEnders. His family announced last November that he had died aged 90 with his friends and family around him, some of whom attended a hearing into his death at Westminster Coroner's Court on Thursday by videolink. Assistant coroner Ellie Oakley said: 'Timothy West had an unwitnessed fall near his home on 11 August 2024 which resulted in a significant traumatic brain injury. 'It is not possible to determine how the fall happened and there is no evidence of others being involved. 'He was treated in hospital for around three months before being discharged to a care home on 5 November 2024 for palliative care. 'Unfortunately he was not well enough to be discharged to his home despite receiving appropriate care in the care home. 'He died on 12 November 2024.' The coroner addressed the family and close friends who viewed proceedings online at the conclusion of the inquest, telling them: 'I would like to end by passing on my sincerest condolences to Mr West's family and friends for this tragic loss of their loved one.' West had been living at Wandsworth Common Care Home in the days leading up to his death. The home's general manager, Thomas Holden, said in a statement read out at Thursday's inquest: 'On 12 November his family were with him all day. 'They continued to stay with him in his room during the evening and he passed away peacefully with his family around him at 19:20.' Mr Holden said West was admitted with a view to trying to rehabilitate him enough so that he could go home 'as he wished to spend his last days there' but that there was a 'slow decline' in his health over the days he resided there. West was admitted to hospital in August last year after a fall near his home. Members of the public came across him unconscious on a footpath near Wandsworth Common, the inquest heard, and an ambulance crew attended and took him to St George's Hospital in Tooting after a neurological assessment. He remained in hospital for around three months during which time the actor's loved ones eventually decided to prioritise his 'comfort and dignity' and arranged for him to be discharged to the private care home. The medical cause of death was given as a subdural haematoma and extra-axial haemorrhage, with a traumatic brain injury and non-convulsive status epilepticus, aspiration pneumonia and hypertension as contributing factors. In a statement announcing his death last year, West's children Juliet, Samuel and Joseph said: 'After a long and extraordinary life on and off the stage, our darling father Timothy West died peacefully in his sleep yesterday evening. He was 90 years old. 'Tim was with friends and family at the end. 'He leaves his wife, Prunella Scales, to whom he was married for 61 years, a sister, a daughter, two sons, seven grandchildren and four greatgrandchildren. All of us will miss him terribly.' West and Scales, 92, who played Sybil Fawlty in Fawlty Towers, appeared in the documentary series Great Canal Journeys between 2014 and 2021, which saw them travelling on narrowboats. The couple married in 1963 and had two sons, Samuel and Joseph. West was also married to actor Jacqueline Boyer from 1956 to 1961, and they had a daughter, Juliet. In Brass the Bradford-born actor played ruthless self-made businessman Bradley Hardacre from 1982 to 1984 before returning for a third series in 1990, while in Not Going Out he played Geoffrey, the father of Lucy Adams, played by Sally Bretton. He appeared as Eric Babbage in seven episodes of Coronation Street in 2013, and in EastEnders he played Stan Carter from 2014 to 2015. His film roles included Commissioner Berthier in The Day Of The Jackal (1973), King Francis in From Ever After: A Cinderella Story (1998), and Nazi physician and war criminal Karl Gebhardt in Hitler: The Last Ten Days (1973). On stage, he was a regular performer of Shakespeare, playing Lear in 2016 and 2002. In 1984, West was appointed a CBE for his services to drama in the Queen's Birthday Honours List. Before acting, West attended the John Lyon School and Bristol Grammar School, and worked as an office furniture salesman and a recording technician before becoming an assistant stage manager at Wimbledon Theatre in 1956.
Daily Mail
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
BREAKING NEWS Actor Timothy West's cause of death revealed: EastEnders and Coronation Street star died after nasty fall
Actor Timothy West died 'peacefully with his family around him' at a care home where he was receiving palliative care after a three-month stay in hospital following a fall, an inquest has heard. West, who was married to actress Prunella Scales for more than 60 years, starred in TV shows such as comedy drama Brass, sitcom Not Going Out and soaps Coronation Street and EastEnders. His family announced last November that he had died aged 90 with his friends and family around him, some of whom attended a hearing into his death at Westminster Coroner's Court on Thursday by videolink. Assistant coroner Ellie Oakley said: 'Timothy West had an unwitnessed fall near his home on 11 August 2024 which resulted in a significant traumatic brain injury. 'It is not possible to determine how the fall happened and there is no evidence of others being involved. 'He was treated in hospital for around three months before being discharged to a care home on 5 November 2024 for palliative care. 'Unfortunately he was not well enough to be discharged to his home despite receiving appropriate care in the care home. 'He died on 12 November 2024.' West had been living at Wandsworth Common Care Home in the days leading up to his death. The home's general manager, Thomas Holden, said in a statement read out at Thursday's inquest: 'On 12 November his family were with him all day. 'They continued to stay with him in his room during the evening and he passed away peacefully with his family around him at 19:20.' In a statement announcing his death last year, West's children Juliet, Samuel and Joseph said: 'After a long and extraordinary life on and off the stage, our darling father Timothy West died peacefully in his sleep yesterday evening. He was 90 years old. 'Tim was with friends and family at the end. 'He leaves his wife, Prunella Scales, to whom he was married for 61 years, a sister, a daughter, two sons, seven grandchildren and four greatgrandchildren. All of us will miss him terribly.' West and Scales, 92, who played Sybil Fawlty in Fawlty Towers, appeared in the documentary series Great Canal Journeys between 2014 and 2021, which saw them travelling on narrowboats. The couple married in 1963 and had two sons, Samuel and Joseph. West was also married to actor Jacqueline Boyer from 1956 to 1961, and they had a daughter, Juliet. In Brass the Bradford-born actor played ruthless self-made businessman Bradley Hardacre from 1982 to 1984 before returning for a third series in 1990, while in Not Going Out he played Geoffrey, the father of Lucy Adams, played by Sally Bretton. He appeared as Eric Babbage in seven episodes of Coronation Street in 2013, and in EastEnders he played Stan Carter from 2014 to 2015. His film roles included Commissioner Berthier in The Day Of The Jackal (1973), King Francis in From Ever After: A Cinderella Story (1998), and Nazi physician and war criminal Karl Gebhardt in Hitler: The Last Ten Days (1973). On stage, he was a regular performer of Shakespeare, playing Lear in 2016 and 2002. In 1984, West was appointed a CBE for his services to drama in the Queen's Birthday Honours List. Before acting, West attended the John Lyon School and Bristol Grammar School, and worked as an office furniture salesman and a recording technician before becoming an assistant stage manager at Wimbledon Theatre in 1956.
