The Association of Palliative Day Services
The Association of Palliative Day Services, known as APDS, is the first national representative body formed exclusively for palliative day service professionals in the UK and Ireland.
Caring Beyond Boundaries
Enhancing Palliative Day Services for all
The APDS Annual Conference
Thursday 2 October 2025
The Burlington Hotel, Birmingham
About
As an Association we are a powerful, collective voice. We believe that together we can be an authority in shaping national guidelines and policies, an educator in cultivating public interest and understanding, and an ambassador for our dedicated providers, and the integral service they provide within palliative care.
We aim to challenge, inspire, and empower our members. We do this by nurturing a supportive community for day service professionals, and by providing access to the latest research developments, training, and educational opportunities.
We are proud to be a multidisciplinary membership organisation and welcome the diverse range of professionals working within palliative day services.
Join the APDS Today!
Membership is open to any day service department
The rate for unit membership is just £70
Membership Form
Please complete the APDS Membership Application Form
What are Palliative Day Services?
Relationships are at the heart of day services. Day services provide specialist palliative care within a group context, where meaningful relationships are paramount.
Palliative day services are for people living with a terminal illness, where a cure is no longer possible. It’s also for people with a complex or life-limiting illness, and need their symptoms controlled. The goal of palliative day services is to provide individualized, holistic care, that promotes independence and rehabilitation, improves self-worth, and ultimately enables the best quality of life for patients and their families.
Facilitated by a specialist multidisciplinary team, day services offer the opportunity for regular review and assessment of the patient’s condition, and sets holistic goals that address physical, psychological, social, and spiritual needs.
Day services provide proactive care, with the specific aim and outcome of preventing crises, enabling rehabilitation, and developing self-management strategies. Care that promotes independence, improves self-worth, and enhances quality of life.
This care is provided within a context of social interaction, support and friendship. Many services offer a range of creative and social activities for patients. In this way, day services prevent the social isolation many experience as a result of their disease, and provide a caring sanctuary for patients to share experiences, to face difficult discussions, and come to terms with their illness, their future, and end of life issues. It’s also a place to create memories, and to form friendships with others that are facing similar challenges, providing a robust support system for the patient and their loved ones.
Although day services across the country vary in the structure of their service, staffing, and provision, many incorporate these core principles. Day services are dependent on a multidisciplinary team, including specialist palliative nurses, healthcare assistants, social workers, volunteers and arts facilitators, complementary therapists, and psychotherapists. The APDS welcomes membership from all professionals working within palliative day services.
Our Vision
To create a meaningful alliance between day service providers, to form a national voice that advocates strategic development to strengthen and align services across the country. The APDS strives to promote education and professional development, and to be continually advancing standards in care for patients and their loved ones. Most importantly, the Association provides a supportive community for day care professionals, enabling members to draw on the wealth of experience and expertise within a growing and dedicated network of colleagues.