Derek Doyle is Vice-President of the National Council for Hospice, Specialist Palliative Care Services, President Emeritus of the International Hospice Institute and College and formerly Medical Director, St Columba's Hospice, Edinburgh. David Jeffrey is Macmillan Lead Palliative Care Consultant, 3 Counties Cancer Centre, Cheltenham General Hospital and Honorary Senior Lecturer in Palliative Medicine at the University of Bristol.