Malcolm Payne is a writer, social worker and academic working for St Christopher’s Hospice, London, UK and Opole University, Poland. He is married to Margaret Reith and has two sons, a step-son and step-daughter, three grand-daughters and two grandsons.

He has worked in UK local government social services as a social work practitioner and manager, in the probation service as a practitioner and as a member of a probation service board, in academic posts at the University of Bristol and Manchester Metropolitan University, as chief executive of the Liverpool Council for Voluntary Serviccem as Assistant Director, development for the Richmond Fellowship for Community Mental Health and most recently in palliative care as Director of Psycho-social and Spiritual Care and latterly as Policy and Development Advisor, St Christopher’s Hospice.

He is the author of more than 300 publications on social work, healthcare and related topics.

Currently, he is honorary professor in the health and social care sciences faculty at Kingston University/St George’s University of London, docent in social work in the Departmnent odf Social Policy, Helsinki University and a visiting professor at Opole University, Poland. He is emeritus professor at Manchester Metropolitan University, where he was for fifteen years head and professor of applied community studies.