Dr Richard SloanClinician

Biography

Dr Richard Sloan is a retired palliative medicine consultant based in Dorchester, Dorset. A former GP from the north of England, he retrained in palliative medicine at St Christopher's Hospice in London before joining Weldmar Hospicecare Trust as its founding Medical Director when the hospice opened in January 1994. He served as Medical Director for approximately 20 years, retiring in 2013, and helped build Weldmar into an integrated service covering the whole of Dorset by merging with Cancer Care Dorset home-care nurses and the Trimar day hospice. His particular clinical interest was palliative care for patients with Motor Neurone Disease, and he has spoken and written on the role of palliative care in MND, arguing that it should begin at the point of diagnosis rather than be reserved for the final stages of illness. Since retirement he has continued to support Weldmar Hospicecare and has contributed as a speaker and mentor at MND education events.

References

1. 1.30 Faces of Weldmar – #14 Dr Richard Sloan, Weldmar Hospicecare — Background as a former GP, retraining at St Christopher's Hospice, joining Weldmar in 1993/94, expanding hospice care to non-cancer conditions, serving as Medical Director until retirement in 2013.
2. 2.Richard Sloan – Marshwood Vale Magazine (November 2013) — Confirms 20-year tenure as Medical Director, retirement in 2013, special interest in MND, integration of Weldmar with Cancer Care Dorset and Trimar, and education of healthcare professionals in MND.
3. 3.Students support MND research awareness with a conference – MND Research Blog (April 2020) — Identifies him post-retirement as 'Medical Director of Weldmar Hospice Care Trust in Dorchester (Retired)'; records his public advocacy that palliative care in MND should begin from diagnosis.
4. 4.Palliative Care in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (academic volume contributor list) — Credits Richard Sloan as 'Medical Director (retired), Weldmar Hospicecare Trust, Dorchester, UK', confirming his published academic engagement with MND palliative care.

Expertise

Cited on

• Hospital discharge / bed-blocking

Stated areas of expertise

• Palliative and end-of-life care
• Motor Neurone Disease (MND) care
• Hospice development and integration
• Non-cancer palliative care
• Palliative care education

Notable achievements

• Founding Medical Director of Weldmar Hospicecare Trust, Dorchester, serving from the hospice's opening on 19 January 1994 until his retirement in 2013 — a tenure of approximately 20 years. Source ↗
• Contributed a chapter on palliative care in ALS/MND to the academic volume 'Palliative Care in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis', credited as Medical Director (retired), Weldmar Hospicecare Trust. Source ↗
• Helped expand Weldmar beyond cancer care to include heart failure, respiratory diseases and MND — described as going 'beyond the usual boundaries of hospice care' — and integrated Cancer Care Dorset nurses and Trimar day hospice under the Weldmar banner. Source ↗
• Spoke at a University of Southampton MND Association student conference (2020), using his 20 years' experience to argue that palliative care in MND should begin from the point of diagnosis. Source ↗

What they’ve said

• “Jeremy Hunt's imposition in 2015 of a new contract on junior doctors (now called resident doctors) was on the false premise that if they could be forced to work more at weekends this would reduce delayed treatments and discharges.”

  Retired palliative medicine consultant, Dorchester, Dorset · Hospital discharge / bed-blocking · 27 Aug 2026 · Who’s to blame for the NHS’s blame culture? | Letters ↗

Source references

1. Who’s to blame for the NHS’s blame culture? | Letterstheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026

Contact & links

• Staff pagehttps://www.weldmarhospicecare.org/30faces/richard-sloan/

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