HWS: Cicely Saunders

CICELY SAUNDERS

Cicely Saunders, Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (D.B.E.) and Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians (F.R.C.P.), medical director of St. Christopher's Hospice in London, is regarded as the founder of the modern hospice movement. Dr. Saunders, whose founding of St. Christopher's in 1967 charted new directions in both philosophy and techniques for treatment of the terminally ill, is regarded as the world's foremost expert in the care of the dying.

Believing that "it is not so much death itself as the actual process of dying that most people fear," Dame Cicely applied her education and professional background as student of philosophy, nurse, social worker, and physician to the creation of the hospice concept. When planning St. Christopher's, she said, "The name hospice, 'a resting place for travelers or pilgrims,' was chosen because this will be something between a hospital and a home, with the skills of one and the hospitality, warmth, and the time of the other."