Mariana Pernea, interviewed by Professor David Clark, 14th September 2001 (Poina Brasov, Romania).

Mariana Pernea graduated from the Institute of Medicine and Pharmacy in Cluj-Napoca in 1990, and then worked in a general hospital for a year. After this, she worked for one year as a GP in a small area near Brasov then specialised in oncology and chemotherapy at the National Institute in Oncology in Bucharest for the next three years. Mariana trained with Daniela Mosoiu, who introduced her to the concept of palliative care in 1996. She started work for the home care team at Hospice Casa Sperantei in the spring of 1997, and became involved not only with direct patient care, but also with the development of education and policy. In this interview with David Clark, Mariana talks about the problems she encountered during her move to the hospice, including issues relating to funding, symptom control, the anger of patients and families, and the lack of communication about the truth of the diagnosis, and how that is dealt with in Romanian society.

Graham Perolls, interviewed by Professor David Clark, 15th September 2001 (Poina Brasov, Romania).

Graham Perolls’ father became ill with cancer in 1978, and following a suggestion from a friend, Graham contacted St. Christopher’s Hospice, where his father died peacefully shortly after. The experience at St. Christopher’s proved highly inspirational for Graham, who felt that he wanted to do something to improve local hospice care. Four years after his father had died, Graham’s mother died very suddenly, and in 1985, Graham set up a charity which was called the Ellenor Foundation, named after his mother, Ellen, and his father, Norman; the foundation set up a hospice service that grew rapidly into what it is today – a large organisation operating in North West Kent and the London Borough of Bexley. A range of services are provided that include home care, respite care, a hospital support service and a paediatric service. Graham visited Romania for the first time in 1975 through a visit organised by his church youth group, but it was shortly after the revolution in 1990, during visits to a Romanian orphanage and a cancer hospital that he felt the need to help the Romanian people develop a hospice service. In 1991, the Ellenor Romanian Hospice Appeal was launched, and in 1992, Hospice Casai Sperantei was opened. In this interview with David Clark, Graham Perolls talks about his religious faith, the support he has received from his family, and the inspiration provided by the Romanian people.

Dr Daniela Mosoiu, interviewed by Professor David Clark, 25th February 2002 (Budapest, Hungary).

As a medical student, Daniela Mosoiu became interested in cancer patients and began to train as a specialist in oncology in Bucharest. During this time, she spent a short period at Michael Sobell House Hospice in Oxford, where she was first introduced to the concept of palliative care. During a conference in Brasov, Daniela was approached by Mary Baines to come and work as a hospice doctor with the Ellenor Foundation, and commenced work at Hospice Casai Sperantei in 1995. Daniela was instrumental in developing palliative care curricula at the national palliative care training centre. In this interview with David Clark, Daniela describes the teamwork necessary to develop palliative care, the problems associated with funding of services and of her role within ECEPT; she also discusses cultural attitudes surrounding death and dying in Romania, and the continuing difficulties that patients, families and palliative care professionals encounter.

Dr Daniela Mosoiu, interviewed by Rev. Dr. Michael Wright, 5th September 2003 (University of Sheffield).

In a second interview conducted by Michael Wright in 2003, Daniela Mosoiu reflects on the progress at Hospice Casa Sperantei; the way in which palliative care services have developed, the input of the local community, and the centrality of the hospice as an educational resource. Daniela’s role as national palliative care co-ordinator, the concept of Hospice Casa Sperantei as a palliative care beacon, and the spiritual dimension of hospice care are also discussed.

Melina Dumitrescu, interviewed by Professor David Clark, 14th September 2001 (Poiana Brasov).

Melina Dumitrescu commenced work as a teacher in 1978, and changed her occupation to a medical translator/interpreter in 1981. In 1992, Melina became one of the founding members of Hospice Casa Sperantei, and in this interview with David Clark, she reflects on the formation of the hospice and her friendship with Graham Perolls. Issues of fundraising and the wider palliative care scene within Romania are also discussed.

Melina Dumitrescu, interviewed by Professor David Clark, 30th September 2004 (Brasov, Romania).

Melina Dumitrescu was previously interviewed in September 2001, and by 2004, had become the Director of Public Relations for Hospice Casa Sperantei in Brasov, Romania This interview covers the developments which have taken place at Casa Sperantei since that time, principally the opening of the hospice inpatient unit and central facility. The interview includes a ‘virtual tour’ of the hospice, with descriptions of the various departments, including their staffing levels and activities, and concludes with an account of the financial challenges faced by the hospice relating to limited recognition by the Ministry of Health and meagre reimbursement for its services from the House of Insurance.

Gabriela Baila, interviewed by Rev Dr Michael Wright, 5th February 2002 (Brasov, Romania).

Gabriela Baila first became interested in palliative care whilst working as a nurse in an oncology hospital. She became involved with Hospice Casa Sperantei through working with Sylvia Jarrett and Catherine Andrews, and eventually became Director of Nursing at the hospice; Gabriela has also worked in a number of hospices in England. In this interview with Michael Wright, Gabriela discusses her vision of palliative care at the hospice, including criteria for the recruitment of nursing staff and the ethical procedures relating to the referral of patients. The difficulties for patients and families to talk about death and dying, and issues of spirituality are also discussed.

Andre Achimas, interviewed by Professor David Clark, 30th September 2004 (Bucharest, Romania).

A cardiologist, Professor Achimas is based at the University of Cluj, Romania. In the mid-1990s he took a PHARE funded training course in palliative care at Dundee/Edinburgh universities. A supporter of the work of Dr Daniela Mosoiu and Hospice Casa Sperantei, he became President of the Romanian National Commission on Palliative Care on its foundation in 2004. In this interview with David Clark, Andre Achimas describes how he first became interested and involved in palliative care, the difficulties encountered relating to the Romanian legislation on opioids, and the ways in which palliative care has evolved in the country since the time of the revolution.

Kirsteen Cowling and Marinella Murg, interviewed by Professor David Clark, 30th September 2004 (Bucharest, Romania).

Kirsteen Cowling (left) is a nurse/co-ordinator and Marinella Murg (right) a social worker, nurse and hospice manager at Hospice Emmanuel, Oradea, Romania. Marinella was involved in the group that formed Emmanuel Hospice in 1996, and Kirsteen commenced work in the children’s service at the hospice in 1999. In this interview with David Clark, Kirsteen and Marinella talk about the changes and developments that have taken place at the hospice since 2001, the kind of problems experienced by patients, issues of religion and spirituality, and about their work relating to the Council of Europe policy document and the National Commission for Palliative Care.

Luminita Dumitrescu and Wim van den Heuvel, interviewed by Professor David Clark, 30th September 2004 (Bucharest, Romania).

Wim van den Heuvel (Professor of Rehabilitation Medicine at the University of Maastricht) initiated and directed the PACARO (Palliative Care in Romania) project and Luminita Dumitrescu (paediatrician/family physician) coordinated it. The PACARO project commenced in 2002, and closed at the International Congress on Palliative Care in September 2004. It was funded by the Marta Programme within the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and its purpose was to strengthen the delivery of palliative care in primary care settings through additional training and support for family doctors, nurses, social workers and oncologists. Five teams were funded across Romania and a further five voluntary teams took part. In this interview with David Clark, Wim van den Heuvel and Luminita Dumitrescu discuss how the PACARO project began, issues relating to the education programme and funding, and the problems experienced by patients who participated in the project.