Humanising child death: The creation and subsequent development of children’s palliative care as a distinct clinical, educational and research speciality

The death of a child is an unimaginable tragedy for every family. In 1975, child mortality rates varied globally, with the United Kingdom's infant mortality rate at 17 deaths per 1000 live births and the worldwide rate for the 1970–1975 period being 91 deaths per 1000 live births. In 2024, there were 3577 child deaths in England, a rate of 29.8 per 100,000 children (National Child Mortality Database 2025). Children also die of a much wider range of diagnostic conditions compared with adults. Hain et al. (2013) in their groundbreaking research identified over 300 diagnoses associated with death in childhood...