2004 - 2007 - Cicely Saunders Institute - King's College London

Professor Kathryn McPherson PhD
Visiting Professor
Kathryn has a clinical background in nursing training in
Australia before moving to the United Kingdom to study
midwifery and then Health Visiting, both in Edinburgh.
Whilst working as a health visitor, Kath undertook a
psychology degree then took up a research position at
the Astley Ainslie Hospital in Edinburgh and then went
on to complete her PhD exploring the effects of brain
injury on the individual and their family in the transition
from inpatient rehabilitation to home. Prior to her current
appointment, she held academic posts at the University
of Edinburgh, the University of Otago (New Zealand) and
the University of Southampton. She continues to cosupervise
PhD students at both the University of Otago
and the University of Southampton. Kath’s research
focus is on: investigating outcomes in ways that matter
most to people with chronic conditions (both conceptual
and psychometric issues); improving effectiveness of
rehabilitation processes such as goals and goal setting
and teamwork; clinical decision making in rehabilitation;
and rehabilitation workforce development. She has been
an Associate Editor with the BMJ group journal Quality
and Safety in Healthcare since 2001. She is also on the
editorial board of Disability and Rehabilitation, Clinical
Rehabilitation and the International Journal of Nursing
Studies. In her role as Visiting Professor at the
Department of Palliative Care, Policy & Rehabilitation
Palliative Care and Rehabilitation, Kath works with
Professor Lynne Turner-Stokes and others in continuing
work addressing the identified lack of knowledge about
the impact of chronic neurological conditions and the
development of more robust and relevant evidence base
in rehabilitation.
Dr Fliss Murtagh MBBS MRCGP MSc
Clinical Research Training Fellow
Fliss is a graduate of the Royal Free Hospital Medical
School, London. She worked as a general practitioner
with a special interest in palliative care for 10 years
before specialising in palliative care from 2000. She
completed the MSc in Palliative Care within the
department in 2003, and has published work from her
MSc dissertation on facilitating patient preferences in
decision-making in the Journal of Medical Ethics. She
has now completed consultant training in palliative
medicine, and is currently undertaking a PhD
researching the palliative care needs of patients with
advanced chronic kidney disease who are managed
conservatively, without dialysis. Together with
Professors Irene Higginson and Julia Addington-Hall,
she has completed a systematic review of symptoms in
end stage renal disease, as well as a review of the use of
opioids in conservatively-managed end stage renal
disease. She is also part of the working group
developing a renal version of the Liverpool Care Pathway
for national implementation in the UK. Other interests
include ethics, palliative care for other non-cancer
conditions, and teaching palliative care.
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