03 Sept 2026

A Ward Transformed into a Place of Love and Farewell 

We are deeply moved by a recent story from Tseung Kwan O Hospital, where a ward was transformed into a wedding venue so that a terminally ill cancer patient could witness his daughter’s marriage. 💐🤍

With the support of healthcare professionals, the family was able to share this precious milestone together. The occasion offered comfort, connection, and a meaningful memory for the patient and his loved ones. 🕊️👨‍👩‍👧‍👦

31 Jul 2026

📋 𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲: 𝗟𝗲𝗴𝗮𝗹 𝗠𝗶𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗻𝗲: 𝗔𝗱𝘃𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗗𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗟𝗶𝗳𝗲-𝗦𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗧𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗢𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 (𝗖𝗮𝗽. 𝟲𝟱𝟭) 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗘𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁 

The Advance Decisions on Life-Sustaining Treatment Ordinance (Cap. 651) officially commenced on 31 July 2026 🗓️. It provides a statutory framework for mentally competent adults with serious, irreversible illnesses to pre-indicate their refusal of specific life-sustaining treatments 📜. Simultaneously, the legislation provides legal protection for medical professionals and emergency rescuers who honour valid orders in good faith 🚨🛡️, safeguarding patient autonomy and dignity at the end of life 🕊️✨.

27 Jul 2026

📋 𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲: 𝗦𝘆𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗴𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗔𝗖𝗣 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗔𝗗: 𝗘𝗺𝗽𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗘𝗻𝗱-𝗼𝗳-𝗟𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗔𝘂𝘁𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝘆 𝗶𝗻 𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗖 🏥✨ 

Ahead of the enactment of the Advance Decisions on Life-Sustaining Treatment Ordinance ⚖️, palliative care teams across Bradbury Hospice, Shatin Hospital, and Shatin Cheshire Home shared their clinical experience with Advance Care Planning (ACP) 🏥. Integrating ACP with statutory Advance Directives (AD) provides a holistic framework addressing physical, psychological, social, and spiritual needs 🌿❤️. At Shatin Cheshire Home, 𝟵𝟲% of terminal patients have established ACPs 📈, demonstrating its vital role in opening family communications 💬 and preserving patient dignity at the end of life 🕊️.

21 Jul 2026

𝗕𝗲𝗱𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗠𝗶𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗹𝗲: 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗠𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗶𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗖𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗼𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗚𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗱 a 𝗧𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗣𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁’s 𝗪𝗲𝗱𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗪𝗶𝘀𝗵 💍✨

A medical ward at Queen Mary Hospital (QMH) was transformed into a wedding venue 💒 to fulfil the wish of a terminal leukaemia patient, Wan, who yearned to see her daughter Kat married 👰‍♀️🤵. Addressing the family's emotional urgency, a cross-functional team (Medical Ward, Patient Resource Centre, and Palliative Care) collaborated seamlessly to facilitate the ceremony 🩺🤝. The patient's condition stabilized significantly post-ceremony 📈✨, demonstrating the profound clinical and psychological impact of holistic palliative care ❤️🌿.

14 Jul 2026

🎙️ 【𝗛𝗞𝗣𝗡𝗔 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗙𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗻 𝗥𝗧𝗛𝗞: 𝗔𝗱𝘃𝗼𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗔𝗱𝘃𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗠𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗗𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀 & 𝗟𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗘𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻】

11 May 2026

Palliative care is not about “giving up” — it is about helping patients live with greater comfort, dignity, and strength through difficult times. 🌿💙

Recent reports highlighted a pilot programme for younger cancer patients led by Queen Mary Hospital and Grantham Hospital, aiming to better support patients with advanced illness through symptom management, psychosocial support, and advance care planning. 🏥🤝 This reflects an important message: palliative care is not the end of hope, but a way to help patients and families cope better and live more meaningfully. ✨

Early and integrated palliative care has also been shown in Hong Kong to improve important symptoms such as pain, anxiety, and depression. 📚🩺

8 May 2026

The Advance Decision on Life-sustaining Treatment Ordinance will come into effect on 31 July 2026 🗓️, marking an important step forward for advance care planning and end-of-life care in Hong Kong 🌿🕊️💙. 

The new law provides a clearer legal framework for advance directives and DNACPR orders 📝, covering their making, revocation, validity, and applicability while further protecting patient autonomy, dignity, and choice 💛⚖️✨. 

It also offers clearer legal protection to healthcare and rescue personnel 👩‍⚕️👨‍⚕️🚑, whether they are following a valid directive or order or acting to save life when there is doubt. 

1 May 2026

The Hospital Authority will extend visiting hours for palliative care / hospice wards to 9 hours per day under the new public hospital visiting arrangements. 🌿🏥

This new arrangement will be implemented in phases across clusters, with a target of full implementation by the end of July 2026. 📅

This is a meaningful step forward in supporting patients and families, especially in times when presence, connection, and companionship matter most. 💙✨

1 April 2026

End-of-life care matters deeply to patients and families, and Hong Kong is continuing to strengthen palliative and end-of-life care services across the system. 🌿💛

With the Advance Decision on Life-sustaining Treatment Ordinance planned to come into effect in mid-2026, preparation work is ongoing, including updated guidelines, staff training, system enhancement, and public education. 📚🔄 We hope more people will understand advance care planning, life-and-death education, and palliative care so that every patient can receive care with dignity, comfort, and choice at the end of life. 🕊️💙

9 March 2026

Music is more than entertainment — it is a professional therapeutic intervention that can support patients physically, emotionally, and spiritually. 🎶💙

At Queen Mary Hospital, registered music therapists work one-on-one with patients to help ease distress, rebuild self-worth, and even create meaningful songs that can become precious gifts for loved ones. 🌿🫶 One touching example is a mother with terminal cancer who, with support from the therapist, wrote a song for her 3-year-old son — a lasting gift of love. 💛👩‍👦 

9 March 2026

Palliative care is not about “giving up” — it is about relieving suffering and caring for patients and families in their physical, emotional, social, and spiritual needs. 🌿💛

Through timely conversations, the team can explore a patient’s values, future care wishes, unfinished business, relationships they hope to mend, and other important end-of-life decisions. 🕊️💬 By integrating medical care, rehabilitation, and spiritual support, palliative care helps people live with greater dignity, comfort, and meaning in every stage of life. 🤝✨

2 February 2026

Namaste Care reminds us that end-of-life care is not only about symptoms—it’s also about comfort, connection, and dignity through the five senses. 🌿🕊️

This approach emphasises spiritual and emotional support by creating a calm environment (soft light, gentle music, and a soothing scent), offering loving presence, and using meaningful sensory activities—touch, smell, sound, taste, and sight—to ease anxiety and improve the quality of life, especially for people with advanced dementia. 🎶🫧🤲 

16 January 2026

Palliative care is not only about relieving physical suffering—it’s also about helping patients fulfil unfinished wishes so that farewell can become a warm memory. 🕊️💛

A story from the New Territories East Cluster shared how the team listened patiently, supported families, and even arranged a safe return home for a patient to enjoy a simple dinner, rest in their own bed, and feel “home” once more. 🏠🍲🤝

9 January 2026

Sometimes, the most important choice we make is not about curing but about living and dying with dignity. 🕊️💙

In the face of impermanence, palliative care offers patients and families a pathway to peace, comfort, and meaning when time is limited. ⏳🤝 It's about honouring the whole person—body, mind, relationships, and spirit—while navigating difficult decisions together with compassion and respect. 🌿✨

12 December 2025

A Warm Light at Life’s Final Stop 🕯️💛 

Everyone deserves comfort and dignity at the end of life. 🕊️

The New Territories East Cluster palliative care team supports patients and families with holistic care—physical, emotional, social and spiritual—both in hospital and, when needed, at home. 🤝

November 2025

When a patient is nearing the end of life, what they miss most may not be “home” itself—but someone they love. 🏥💛🐾

In United Christian Hospital’s oncology ward, the team supported a patient-centred “wish-fulfilment” arrangement to reunite Uncle Wah with his beloved cat, Cindy. 🤝🐱  

14-16 October 2025

Major International Conference Underway

The HKU Jockey Club End-of-Life Care Project (JCECC) is hosting the "JCECC International Conference 2025: Transcending Horizons in End-of-Life Care—Compassion, Collaboration and Creativity" from 14 to 16 October, 2025. The conference is being held at HKU's Huang Li-song Lecture Hall, featuring keynote speeches including Mr. Lam Chau-hong, a consultant at the Health Bureau, presenting "Policy Evolution of End-of-Life Care in Hong Kong—Personal Observation," and Professor Ning Xiaohong from Peking Union Medical College Hospital sharing about China's Palliative Care Medical Alliance model.

11 October 2025

World Hospice and Palliative Care Day 2025

11 October, 2025, marks the 20th anniversary of World Hospice and Palliative Care Day (WHPCD), with this year's theme, "Achieving the Promise—Universal Access to Palliative Care." The Worldwide Hospice Palliative Care Alliance (WHPCA) coordinates global activities, calling on the international palliative care community to organise events around October 11.

18 September 2025

Government Policy Address Announces Integrated Chinese-Western Medicine Palliative Care Pilot Program

On September 17, 2025, Chief Executive John Lee announced in the Policy Address the launch of an integrated Chinese-Western medicine palliative care pilot project. This groundbreaking initiative combines Traditional Chinese Medicine with conventional palliative care services, while the Hospital Authority strengthens end-of-life care services including enhanced consultation services and optimized dying-at-home arrangements.

Augest – September 2025

Queen Mary Hospital Continues Providing Palliative Care Support Services

Queen Mary Hospital's Palliative Care and End-of-Life Care Department continues providing regular updates on community support, bereavement services, and aftercare information during August-September 2025. Currently, 15 Hospital Authority hospitals offer comprehensive palliative care services, serving not only cancer patients but also those with heart failure, chronic lung disease, kidney disease, and other serious chronic conditions.