Closure of the Point of Care Foundation
02 October 2025
The Point of Care Foundation will close at the end of 2025, with Schwartz Rounds continuing under new leadership.
The Point of Care Foundation has been an independent charity since 2013 with a mission to humanise healthcare in the UK. Like many small charities, the organisation has faced financial challenges in recent years. The Board of Trustees believe that the most sustainable way for its services and programmes to continue to have an impact for staff and citizens in the UK and Ireland is for these to be transferred to larger and more resilient organisations, which can continue to deliver them in the long term.
The Schwartz Rounds programme will be transferred to the Schwartz Center for Compassionate Healthcare at the end of this year. The move enables Schwartz Rounds to continue to run in the UK and Ireland, as part of a wider international community of Schwartz sites, including organisations in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
The Schwartz Center, based in Boston, USA, originally developed Schwartz Rounds in the 1990s. They have licensed Schwartz Rounds since their introduction to the UK and Ireland in 2009 by the Point of Care programme – then based at the King’s Fund. Since the Point of Care Foundation launched as an independent charity in 2013, it has continued to expand the practice and use of Schwartz Rounds. Today, Schwartz Rounds operate in over 200 health and social care settings, as well as Higher Education Institutes, hospices, children’s services and veterinary practice.
The other major strand of the Foundation’s work, the Experiences of Care programme, was transferred to Picker Europe in April this year, with the aim of growing the programme and having greater impact for patients and families.
All UK and Ireland Schwartz sites can continue to run Rounds within their organisations as normal throughout the transition period and into the future. Licensing, training and support for Schwartz Rounds teams will be provided by the Schwartz Center.
Commenting on the closure of the Foundation, chairman Richard Smith said:
“For 12 years the Point of Care Foundation has been pursuing a mission to humanise care for patients and the people working to support them. We are proud of the work we have done in that time, in particular through developing and promoting patient-centred approaches to care, and by introducing and expanding the use of Schwartz Rounds, which have had an impact on thousands of individuals and on the culture of health and care organisations. Having taken this difficult decision, the trustees are sad that Point of Care is closing but pleased that Schwartz Rounds, along with our Experiences of Care programme, have a secure future in the UK and Ireland.”
Commenting on the introduction of UK and Ireland Schwartz sites to the international network of organisations running Schwartz Rounds, Schwartz Center CEO Michael Gustafson, MD, said:
“This international collaboration strengthens our collective ability to address healthcare worker well-being and, ultimately, improve patient care quality worldwide. The experiences and insights from UK and Ireland sites will undoubtedly enrich our global understanding of how compassionate care practices can be nurtured and sustained. We look forward to learning from each other as we work together to make healthcare more compassionate for everyone involved.”
More information
To support Schwartz organisations during the transition of their contract to the Schwartz Center, we have produced some ‘FAQs’. Some are published online here:
Our Acting Chief Executive, Charlie Brown, has written a blog reflecting on this news and the Foundation’s work and legacy.