Palliative Care Training

Palliative Care Training

The Palliative care course equips healthcare workers, carers, and support staff with the skills to provide compassionate care to people with serious or life-limiting illnesses.

This comprehensive course provides a foundational understanding of palliative and end-of-life care, exploring the physical, emotional, and social factors that shape an individual’s perspective on dying. Participants will clarify the distinct differences between palliative and end-of-life care while mastering the core principles and key issues central to this holistic approach.

Key modules focus on the critical role of advance care planning, advanced communication skills, detailing the processes involved in documenting future care preferences. You will also gain clear insights into the specific responsibilities of healthcare workers and the vital collaboration required between multi-disciplinary professionals.

By the end of the 3hrs course, you will be equipped with the knowledge to provide dignified, person-centred support that honours the patient’s wishes throughout their journey.

This course is available face‑to‑face or virtually with one of our experienced trainers. We also offer a palliative and end of life care e‑learning course for those who prefer self‑study.

✅Related: End of Life Care Awareness Training. | Mental Health Awareness Training | Grief and bereavement training

Course Information:

• Course Duration: 2- 3 hours
• Course Level: Level 2
• Certificate: 2-year certificate
• Max Delegates: 12
• Practical: No
• Course Format: Face to Face

Course Outline: Palliative Care Training

1. Introduction to Palliative Care

• What palliative care means
• Why it is important
• Who palliative care is for

2. What Affects a Person’s View of Dying

• Personal beliefs, religion, and culture
• Family, past experiences, and fears
• How these views affect care needs

3. Palliative Care vs End of Life Care

• What palliative care is
• What end of life care is
• How they are different but also connected

4. Key Principles of Palliative Care

• Comfort and dignity
• Pain and symptom management
• Respecting the person’s choices
• Emotional and spiritual support

5. Advance Care Planning

• What advance care planning means
• Why it is important
• How to talk with people about their care wishes
• Helping people make choices for the future

6. The Role of Healthcare Workers and Others

• What care workers do in palliative care
• Working with doctors, palliative care nurses, and families
• Teamwork and communication

7. Summary and Questions

• Recap of key points
• Time for questions and sharing thoughts

Learning Objectives

1. Gain an understanding of the factors that impact on someone’s idea of dying
2. Gain an understanding of what is Palliative care and the stages of palliative care and how to support people
3. Understand the difference between palliative care and end of life care
4. Understand the key issues and principles of Palliative Care
5. Understand the importance of advance Care planning around Palliative Care and what this involves
6. Gain an understanding of Healthcare workers role and other healthcare team involved.

Course is suitable for health and social care professionals.

Who Should Take the Palliative Care Course

This palliative care course is designed for a wide range of individuals working within health and social care settings who want to improve their confidence and competence in end-of-life support.

It is particularly suitable for:

• Healthcare Assistants (HCAs) and Support Workers in hospitals, hospices, or the community.
• Residential and Domiciliary Carers supporting older people or terminally ill clients in care homes or their own houses.
• Registered Nurses looking for a foundational refresher on the principles of palliative care and multi-disciplinary roles.
• Social Workers and Care Coordinators involved in advance care planning and holistic patient support.
• Volunteers working in hospice environments who require a formal understanding of the palliative approach.

📚Available: Complex Care Training for Team Members.

Course Benefits:

This course provides several key benefits for both individuals who are trained and their organisations.

For the Individual

• Enhanced Clinical Competence — Build a solid understanding of core palliative care principles, how to support individuals, and the practicalities of Advance Care Planning.
• Communication Confidence — Develop the skills to handle sensitive, often difficult conversations about dying with patients and families.
• Career Progression — Strengthen a specialist skillset that is in high demand across hospitals, hospices, and residential care settings.
•  Emotional Resilience — Gain insight into the factors that shape an individual’s experience of dying, helping you manage the emotional demands of the role.

For the Organisation

• Improved Care Standards — Support your team to deliver high‑quality, person‑centred care that aligns with CQC and national end‑of‑life guidelines.
• Reduced Hospital Admissions — Effective Advance Care Planning helps ensure individuals’ wishes are respected, often reducing avoidable emergency admissions.
• Stronger Multi‑Disciplinary Working — Clarifying professional roles enhances teamwork, communication, and the quality of handovers.
• Enhanced Reputation — Demonstrating a commitment to specialist palliative training builds trust with families, commissioners, and local health partners.

Course Reviews

This Palliative Care Awareness Training is rated ‘Excellent’ by people who have taken the face-to-face training in the UK. These participants are often workers in care homes, hospitals, and other agencies.

They are pleased with the quality of the training and the support our team provides.

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“Ben Page delivered the palliative care this morning, really enjoyed the session and learnt a lot” – Keily boden

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“Ben Page delivered palliative care training today, and I learned so much. He takes the time to explain everything and answer any questions that are asked.” – Bryony boden

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“I had a very well presented training , the trainer Jenny Hadley was very knowledgeable and helpful, giving lots of examples and giving us the opportunity to express our thoughts and discuss all the does and don’ts particularly within palliative care and end of live care” –  Lilyana Z.

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“Ben taught me about palliative and end of life care his teaching method for me personally made it easy for me to understand and get the most out of this lesson.” – Jeffrey E.

👨‍💻Related: Palliative Care and End of Life Care e-Learning Course – Buy Here.

Palliative Care Course FAQs

1. What is ‘Advance Care Planning’ and why is it covered?

It is the process of discussing and recording a person’s future care wishes. The course explains how to support this process legally and sensitively.

2. Why is palliative care training important?

Palliative care training is important because it equips staff with the skills to manage symptoms, communicate sensitively, and support individuals and families through complex, emotionally challenging situations. It improves confidence, enhances person‑centred care, and ensures teams can deliver safe, dignified support that aligns with national end‑of‑life standards.

Also, this training provides direct evidence for the “Caring” and “Effective” domains of CQC inspections, specifically regarding End of Life Care standards.

3. Can the training be delivered at our location?

Yes. We only offer in‑house training, where our instructors come directly to your facility anywhere in the UK (England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland). This saves you travel costs and ensures staff remain on‑site throughout the training.

Onsite (in‑house) palliative care training offers major benefits for care homes, hospitals, and other healthcare settings by boosting staff confidence, improving patient care, and increasing operational efficiency, without the added costs or logistics of off‑site training.

Delivering training within the work environment also allows staff to apply new skills immediately to real‑world scenarios.

4. Are there any prerequisites for this course?

There are no formal prerequisites for this course. It is suitable for anyone working in health or social care who supports individuals with life‑limiting conditions.

5. Will attending this training make me competent?

In short, no. No classroom-based training course can give you full competency – be very wary of anyone claiming they can. Our classroom-based assessments are designed to bridge the gap between classroom learning and workplace competency.

We will be sure to provide you with the relevant workbooks and competency proformas to be observed and signed off within the workplace according to your local policy.

6. What equipment will you use for training?

We have a variety of different training equipment and tools available. The training will be relevant and transferable.

However, if you have a specific requirement for a particular type of equipment, please make this clear during the booking process, and the team will ensure this is provided. Alternatively, we can use your own equipment for training.

7. How will this training improve care quality?

Palliative care training improves care quality by giving staff the skills, confidence, and awareness needed to deliver safe, compassionate, person‑centred support. It strengthens symptom management, enhances communication with individuals and families, and promotes consistent, dignified care aligned with national end‑of‑life standards.

Teams become more confident, more coordinated, and better equipped to meet each person’s physical, emotional, and spiritual needs.

8. What courses can be combined with this and why?

Courses that pair well with palliative care training include End of Life Care, Advance Care Planning, Communication Skills, and Pain Management. These deepen understanding of symptom control, strengthen sensitive communication, and support better decision‑making around patient wishes.

Dementia Care is also valuable for managing complex communication needs, while Safeguarding Adults ensures legal and ethical protection for vulnerable individuals.

Together, these courses help staff deliver safer, more coordinated, and more compassionate end‑of‑life support. You benefits from our half-day bundle if you combine two half-day courses, same day, same venue.

9. What are the requirements for hosting onsite training?

To ensure a successful session, your team should provide a private, quiet room with a projector or screen, flipchart, and reliable Wi‑Fi. Please ensure access to clean toilet facilities and provide water, tea, or refreshments to keep delegates comfortable. Having a delegate list ready and ensuring staff are fully released from duties allows for uninterrupted, focused learning.

10. What are the benefits of booking face‑to‑face or virtual training over eLearning?

For palliative care, face‑to‑face or virtual training allows new and experienced staff to learn together, share ideas, and explore real scenarios with an instructor. Sessions can be tailored to your team’s immediate needs, experience levels, and compliance standards.

Learners receive valuable feedback, practise sensitive communication, and retain knowledge more effectively. Palliative care eLearning still plays an important role, it’s ideal for refreshing key concepts, reinforcing trainer‑led learning, and supporting ongoing development between formal sessions.