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One day Principles and Practice of Palliative and End of Life Care for Homecare workers

Providing the essential building blocks to support people at the end of life and their families

Advanced Clinical Practitioner and Nurse Consultant Development Programme

A one-day training day to increase the confidence and skills of homecare workers caring for people who are approaching the end of life and their families. By attending the training, carers will gain an understanding of:

  • What is palliative and end-of-life care? Dispelling myths
  • Sensitive communication and working with informal carers
  • Maximising the potential of the person you are supporting
  • Recognising and responding to common symptoms 
  • Recognising dying and care in the last days of life
  • Lone working, self-care and reflective practice

St Christopher’s are really pleased to be putting into practice recommendations for palliative and end-of-life training for homecare workers following an extensive study of the first-hand experiences of homecare workers, managers, people receiving care and their family members, health and social practitioners and commissioners.

We are looking to partner with homecare agencies who can send up to 5 team members on our first iteration of this training on Wednesday 11th November with the ask that the attendees also take part in evaluation of the training so we can understand how the training has impacted on practice. 

Attendees will receive refreshments, lunch, a tour of the hospice, a certificate of completion and resources to support their ongoing practice.

We really hope you can join us.

Managers, Carers and Senior Carers at Homecare agencies.

We encourage up to 5 attendees from each agency to maximise the impact.

Gill Early

Gill started her career in a Croydon nursing home at the age of 16 years old. She trained as a nurse, graduating as a Registered General Nurse in 1986.
Read More Gill Early

Additional tutors may present certain sessions on the day.

Universal Care Plan (UCP) Training for Croydon Care Homes

We are delighted to introduce the Universal Care Plan (UCP) training plan, a comprehensive initiative designed to support Care Homes in delivering consistent, person-centred care. This programme takes a staged approach to ensure that training is practical, sustainable, and embedded in daily practice.

This initiative reflects our commitment to supporting Care Homes in delivering excellent care through collaboration and shared learning.

Join us as we work together to make a lasting impact on the quality of care provided to residents.

In Year One, the focus is on building strong foundations with:

  • In-person training for Care Home Managers, providing them with the tools to lead the implementation of UCPs.
  • Online training for staff who will become UCP Champions, equipping them with the skills to facilitate Advance Care Planning conversations and promote the value of UCPs.
  • Local training sessions hosted by Lead Care Homes in Purley, Norwood, South Croydon, and Kenley, inviting neighbouring Care Homes to share and learn from UCP-based practices.

In Year Two, the programme continues to develop with:

  • On-site support from St Christopher’s clinical team, working directly with UCP Champions in Croydon Care Homes.
  • Online training for new Champions and refresher sessions for existing ones, ensuring skills remain sharp and effective.

UCP Training for Registered Managers (in-person at St Christopher’s CARE in Sydenham, London)

Training for UCP Champions (online)

More dates to be announced

If your Care Home is outside of Croydon but you are interested in this opportunity, please email education@stchristophers.org.uk

All Care Home staff in Croydon.

Gill Early

Gill started her career in a Croydon nursing home at the age of 16 years old. She trained as a nurse, graduating as a Registered General Nurse in 1986.
Read More Gill Early

By the end of the UCP training programme, you will be able to:

  1. Define the principles, benefits, and common misconceptions of Advance Care Planning (ACP) and Universal Care Plans (UCPs).
  2. Describe challenges and issues related to ACP implementation in the context of UCPs, including addressing sensitive topics with families and residents.
  3. Demonstrate effective skills for conducting difficult, sensitive, and challenging conversations about end-of-life care with residents and their families.
  4. Record and share ACPs by gathering resident information, wishes, and preferences, ensuring accurate and effective use of the UCP system.
  5. Create appropriate responses to complex scenarios, such as managing expectations, addressing cultural considerations, supporting residents with dementia, and handling emergency situations.
  6. Assess personal strategies for self-care, recognising the emotional demands of engaging in sensitive conversations and supporting end-of-life care.

These outcomes aim to empower care home staff to confidently use the UCP system, with the ability to deliver compassionate, person-centred care while enhancing collaboration and communication within your teams and with residents’ families.

Principles and Practice of Palliative and End of Life Care

Providing the essential building blocks to support patients and their families at the end of life

Advanced Clinical Practitioner and Nurse Consultant Development Programme

Join us for a one day course, which provides health and social care professionals working in any setting with an introduction to the key principles and fundamental skills in Palliative and End of Life Care.  

What will the course look like? 

By attending this course, you will have the opportunity to discuss, evaluate and increase your knowledge, skills and confidence in end of life care.  

Our course embraces a multidisciplinary approach to support a truly holistic response to caring for people approaching the end of life. 

Our trainers bring together expertise from a range of professional backgrounds. While we acknowledge and speak directly to the unique contributions of individual professions during our sessions, we remain grounded in the core value of effective Multi-Disciplinary Team (MDT) working. 

The diagram below highlights the five key principles that form the foundation of our course: 

A diagram of the Five Principles

This course is for all professionals working in the health and social care sector who have limited knowledge of, or wish to refresh their understanding of palliative and end of life care. It is suitable for staff across a wide range of settings, including Care Homes, domiciliary care and may also be relevant for those working in primary care, social work, or those new to working in hospices.   

You will understand the difference between palliative care and end of life care and dying (including key definitions). You will be able to explain key terminology and understand the changing face of death and dying with an aging population. You will develop an awareness of personhood and person-centred practice. 

You will understand the importance of key communication skills and how to apply these to common difficult questions from patients and family. You will understand how to manage and support patients and family who are upset or angry as well as considering conversations related to assisted dying. 

What matters to you? A central question to ensure we are person centred in future care planning. We will look at the basic outline of planning ahead and what it involves, including how we document future care planning. We will use scenarios to explore key terms and aspects related to Advance care plans. 

You will understand the importance of maintaining activity and function through deterioration. You will be able to employ basic exercises to maintain function and describe the importance of understanding “What Matters” to each person.  

You will understand and recognise key features of normal dying. You will be able to increase awareness and provision of holistic care at the end of life. You gain an awareness of the five priorities of care of a dying person, and their loved ones and how to relate these to practice.   

You will understand ways of reflecting, including debriefing. You will be aware of wider support such as the NHS guidelines on self-care. 

Gill Early

Gill started her career in a Croydon nursing home at the age of 16 years old. She trained as a nurse, graduating as a Registered General Nurse in 1986.
Read More Gill Early

Additional tutors may present certain sessions on the day.

Physician Associate Introduction to Palliative Care Community of Practice

Quality End of Life Care for All (QELCA) Train the Trainer Programme

This introductory programme is for physician associates with an interest in furthering their knowledge and skills in palliative care.

This is the first palliative care programme in the UK specifically tailored to physician associates.

This community of practice will consist of four afternoon sessions, providing an opportunity for developing communication skills and networking. The first three sessions will be via Zoom and the last session in-person at St Christopher’s CARE in Sydenham.

The four sessions will focus on:

  • An introduction to palliative care
  • Symptom control and psychological support
  • End of life care including recognising dying and anticipatory medicines
  • Communication skills involving scenarios

Who is it for?

This community of practice is open to physician associates either working in palliative care or primary care within the boroughs served by St. Christopher’s Hospice.

CPD accreditation from the FPA (Faculty of Physician Associates) pending

Please email education@stchristophers.org.uk if you are interested to join this future community.

The global learning objectives for this community are to:

  • Understand the core principles of palliative care, including symptom management, communication, and holistic patient care.
  • Reflect on personal attitudes and biases related to death, dying, and end-of-life care, and develop a compassionate and empathetic approach towards patients and their families.

Philippa Guppy

Philippa is a palliative care trainee in London, she combines her clinical role with her educational role as senior lecturer, chief OSCE examiner for the MPAS programme and chief examiner…
Read More Philippa Guppy

Chris Mangar

Chris is a Clinical Team Lead working for St Christopher’s in Bromley. He has worked in the community for many years and in specialist palliative care since 2011.  Chris combined holding…
Read More Chris Mangar

End of Life Scenarios Skills Workshop

Scenario-based training to build confidence in communicating and managing a range of situations that may occur in the last days of life.

CPD accreditation logo

Participants will be able to practice skills such as assessment, decision making at the end of life and communicating with relatives. This workshop aims to provide a safe space, allowing professionals to experience what it might be like to care for someone at the end of life, encouraging them to feel more confident to do this in their place of work.

We are delighted to confirm this workshop now has CPD Accreditation.

During this workshop you will:

  • Feel more confident to care for someone at the end of life
  • Be able to discuss the communication skills needed to work with this patient group
  • Be able to discuss cultural differences with regards to end of life care

This workshop will take place at St Christopher’s CARE in Sydenham.

Who is it for?

The course is appropriate for all Nurses, Nursing Associates, Healthcare Assistants, Care Home Managers and other allied health professionals looking to refresh their knowledge about end of life care.

Kim Hydes

Kim is a Clinical Nurse Specialist at St Christopher’s Hospice, caring and supporting individuals and their families who are at end of life in the Bromley community area. She has recently joined the Professional Learning team at St Christopher’s CARE in a seconded role as a visiting lecturer alongside her community role. She will be facilitating the ECHOs for Bromley and Croydon mental health and learning disability care homes plus the Croydon and Lambeth care homes. She will also be teaching on a range of our skills workshops on offer. Kim has worked as a palliative care nurse in the…
Read full profile Kim Hydes

Teach with CARE – improve your teaching practice

  • Are you passionate about teaching in health and social care?
  • Do you want to fine tune your teaching practice?
  • Would you like to introduce innovations in your approach to learning?  

Teach with CARE is a four-day course with teaching spread over several weeks.

The course considers different perspectives of adult learning and pedagogy.

The sessions introduce best practice techniques including planning; presenting; resourcing; questioning; assessing and evaluating teaching across the four days.

Learners will also look at online educational tools for effective teaching as well as evaluating best practice for face-to-face and online teaching. They will have the opportunity to plan and share a short teaching session and receive supportive feedback.

“It’s common to be asked to teach others as part of your role, but for those with no training and little experience in teaching, this can be a nerve-wracking prospect. Teach with CARE has been developed as a foundational step into the theory and practice of teaching and learning, giving clinical and non-clinical colleagues alike the confidence and ideas to excel in the role. High quality teaching is critical to our learners being able to put what we teach into practice, and therefore benefits the quality of care delivered throughout the sector.“

Matt Tregellas, Digital Learning Manager and Teach with CARE Lead, St Christopher’s CARE

“I really enjoyed the four days. I think that Teach with CARE should be mandatory for all (teaching colleagues), no matter how long they have been teaching. It gives everyone a platform from which they can be launched and a sense of what is expected of them.” 

Teach with CARE attendee

What will the course look like?

  • Fully virtual course: With this option all four days learning are online via Zoom
  • Blended course: For this option the learning will be in-person at CARE (days 1 and 4) and online (days 2 and 3).
    Please note you will need a laptop for the in-person sessions.

This course will involve:

  • Exploration of academic and web articles
  • A range of activity types including: live and video presentation; using interactive tools as both a learner and a teacher; discussion; pair and group work; self-study; critical thinking; reflection
  • Completion of tasks before and after sessions. There will be approximately one hour of self-study per session and slightly longer for the final assignment.

What will I learn?

  • Theories of teaching and learning
  • Consider the needs of adult learners and how to create engaging learning
  • Consider implications for practice when teaching face-to-face or virtually
  • Enhance and develop teaching practice

Who is it for?

The course is for anyone who wishes to improve their teaching practice face-to-face and online, particularly those in health and social care, but the learning from this course can be used in most settings.

Delegates are expected to have a basic understanding of navigating a laptop, supporting software and use of the internet.

Matt Tregellas

After graduating from the University of Sheffield, Matt moved to Japan where he began his career as an English language teacher. After three years, Matt returned to the UK where…
Read More Matt Tregellas

Lorna Malcolm

Lorna joined the Rehabilitation team at St Christopher’s in 2008, as a newly qualified physiotherapist, coming from previous careers in Law and Health and Fitness. She has also worked as…
Read More Lorna Malcolm

Programme

  • Exploring St Christopher’s CARE aims and Pedagogical Framework
  • Considering different perspectives on adult learning
  • Planning; presenting; resourcing; questioning; assessing and evaluating teaching in response to learner input and feedback
  • Considering best practice for face-to-face and online teaching
  • Using online tools for effective teaching
  • Planning and sharing the rationale for a teaching session

Day 1

10.00Welcome and Introductions
St Christopher’s CARE and the Pedagogical Framework
11.00Break
11.15Theories of learning
12.15Lunch
12.55Adult learning and active learning
14.15Reflection, evaluation and wrap up
15.00Close

Day 2

10.00The teaching context
11.15Break
11.30Constructive alignment, learning outcomes and Bloom’s taxonomy
12.40Lunch
13.20Online educational tools
14.20Homework set up and reflection
15.00Close

Day 3

10.00The Conversational Framework
Active learning activity share
11.15Break
11.30Anatomy of a teaching session
Planning a teaching session
12.40Lunch
13.20Flipped learning
13.50Multimedia design
14.30Homework set up and reflection
15.00Close

Day 4

10.00Evaluation and reflection
11.15Break
11.30Making and delivering an activity with educational technology
12.45Lunch
13.25Putting it into practice: Assignment workshop
14.15Final reflection, Next steps
15.00Farewell

Community of Practice for Activity Coordinators & Wellbeing teams

Community of Practice for for Activity Coordinators HELP Care Home Partners

Come and join us for our Community of Practice, a place to learn and grow together, developing new skills through evidenced-based education, equipping you in your practice to help improve the quality of the life of your residents.

We look forward to seeing you at St Christopher’s CARE soon!

If you would like to become a Care Home Learning Partner and benefit from places on other training as well as this community please email us at education@stchristophers.org.uk

Next session: Thursday 5th November 2 – 4pm

Welcome to our Community of Practice for Activity Coordinators and Wellbeing practitioners. In this Community you will have the opportunity to network with likeminded individuals whose roles are all about enhancing the quality of life of the residents you work with.

We will meet four times over the year and explore topics such as goal setting, supporting people with dementia and the importance of maximising physical and mental potential.

As a community you will be able to shape the topics we cover, and receive knowledge and support. There is plenty of opportunity for networking, sharing ideas and problem solving together.

What you will learn will be shaped by the community giving you the opportunity to tailor the learning to meet your needs but we anticipate exploring

  • How we can support residents to keep moving
  • How we can support people with dementia to participate in activities
  • How it feels and how we can support ourselves, residents and other staff members when a resident dies

Who is it for?

This community is for anyone working as an Activity Coordinator, Wellbeing Practitioner or similar roles within a care home or other setting.

Care Home Learning Partners are entitled to free educational care home initiatives run by St Christopher’s.

Find out more about becoming a Care Home Learning Partner

Lizzy Jenkins

Lizzy has been an Occupational Therapist at St Christopher’s since 2021, with experience working across the inpatient unit and outpatients. Lizzy also works one day a week as a learning facilitator in the Professional Learning team. She chose to specialise in oncology and palliative care 10 years ago and has worked in a specialist oncology hospital, as well as several hospices in that time. Lizzy is passionate about supporting people to live well until they die.
Read full profile Lizzy Jenkins

Dementia training days

As a health or social care professional supporting people at the end of life, do you feel confident and competent to support and care for people with advanced dementia and their carers?

Palliative Care for People with Advanced Dementia

As part of our learning programme here at St Christopher’s CARE to upskill clinicians and colleagues working in all settings to better understand and support the growing number of people with dementia at the end of life, we’ve created three training days looking at various topics associated with the end of life for people living with advanced dementia and their carers.

To meet the needs of people with busy working schedules and different areas of interest and expertise, this has been designed to be a flexible course – learners may complete all three days, any two, or just the one that most suits their needs.

What will I learn?

Thursday 21st January 2027 (virtual)

Communicating with people living with advanced dementia and their loved ones

  • Understand the different ways in which individuals with dementia communicate
  • Understand communication barriers and factors that can affect communication in a negative way
  • Be aware that non-verbal communication is an essential component of communication for people living with dementia

What will I learn?

Next date tbc

Common Symptoms in People Living with Advanced Dementia

  • Dementia: pathophysiology, aetiology and key symptoms
  • How to support people displaying distressed and adaptive behaviours
  • How to recognise and managing pain in people living with dementia
  • How to recognise delirium in people living with dementia
  • Discuss dementia case scenarios

What will I learn?

Next date tbc

Key palliative care issues relating to the people with advance dementia and their carers

This study day will highlight some of the important palliative care issues relating to people with advanced dementia and their loved ones. The goals of the day are to help learners:

  • Be more familiar with the signs and symptoms that dementia is progressing and of the last 6-12 months of life
  • Understand the importance of end-of-life planning to prevent crisis admissions to the hospital
  • Recognise and address ways in which dementia may impact on nutritional intake
  • Be more aware of how people with advanced dementia process and cope with grief and loss and how best to support them and their families talk about grief and loss
  • Understand that services can be developed to support people with advanced dementia stay at home for as long as possible
  • Know the stressors associated with caring for someone with dementia at the end of life

This course is pitched at an intermediate level and is suitable for nurses, doctors, social workers, occupational therapists, paramedics, physiotherapists and speech and language therapists.

Helen Scott

Helen is an Independent Nurse Lecturer specialising in palliative and end-of-life care and dementia. She is a Visiting Lecturer for St Christopher’s Hospice, London, and an Associate Trainer for Dementia…
Read More Helen Scott

Shafika Banoo

Shafika currently works at St Christopher’s Hospice as a clinical fellow in the IPU. Shafika previously worked in India as a consultant in the city of Chennai in India for…
Read More Shafika Banoo

Dr Monica Crugel

Dr Monica Crugel has more than 20 years’ experience in psychiatry and specialises in the care of older adults and people with dementia. She was a research fellow in a…
Read More Dr Monica Crugel

Dr Jemima Collins

Dr Jemima Collins is a Clinical Associate Professor in the Care of Older People at the University of Nottingham. Her research interests are in ageing populations with chronic pain. She…
Read More Dr Jemima Collins

Tracey Carter

Tracey Carter is an Registered Mental Nurse with over 35 years experience within the mental health arena, the last 15 years having been specifically within the Dementia Care field. Tracey…
Read More Tracey Carter

Maria Aparicio

Maria has worked as a Clinical Nurse Specialist in Palliative Care with St Christopher’s Hospice in the Community team in 2018. For two years she joined the St Christopher’s Centre…
Read More Maria Aparicio

Mary Hodgson, PhD.

Mary is Director of Inclusion & Social Innovation at St Christopher’s where she is responsible for our community action, lived experience working and tackling inequalities work to create greater health…
Read More Mary Hodgson, PhD.

Annette Banks

Annette, Dementia Care Manager at HC-One, is a Registered Mental Health Nurse (RMN), who works in the care sector.  Her HC-One name badge says ‘Share a Smile’ because she says a…
Read More Annette Banks

Katy Jenks

Katy, Head of Specialist Services at HC-One, is a Registered Mental Health Nurse (RMN) and chose to work in the care sector because it is person-centred, and it has always been important…
Read More Katy Jenks

Isabelle Latham

Dr Isabelle Latham is Researcher-in-Residence for Hallmark Care Homes and honorary Senior Research Fellow at the Association for Dementia Studies at the University of Worcester. Isabelle is the UK’s first…
Read More Isabelle Latham

Wilco Achterberg

Wilco is a professor in care for older persons, with research mainly based in nursing homes. He specifically focusses on pain in neurodegenerative diseases. Wilco is dedicated to improve clinical…
Read More Wilco Achterberg

Learning Disabilities and Palliative Care Skills Workshop

How can we improve palliative care for people with learning disabilities?

This is an interactive session which aims to improve participants understanding of learning disabilities and how we can meet the needs of this patient group towards the end of life. It will include case studies and opportunity for Q&A.

Topics will include: supporting communication, decisions around hospital admissions, providing person-centred care and symptom assessment for this patient group. By the end of this session you will have improved confidence in supporting individuals with learning disabilities towards the end of life.

We are delighted to confirm this workshop now has CPD Accreditation.

Two people talking
CPD accreditation logo

What will I learn?

This workshop will take place at St Christopher’s CARE in Sydenham.

Topics will include:

  • Advance care planning
  • Symptom assessment for people with learning disabilities
  • Communicating about death and illness.
  • Decisions around hospital admissions

Who is it for?

This workshop is appropriate for all Nurses, Nursing Associates, Healthcare Assistants, support workers, Care Home Managers and other allied health professionals looking to refresh their knowledge about learning disabilities in palliative care.

Phoebe Mooney 

Phoebe is a Clinical Nurse Specialist for people with learning disabilities working in palliative care at St Christopher’s Hospice. She has always had a special interest in palliative care and prior to her current role Phoebe worked as an advance care planning nurse for adults with LD in East London. Phoebe also has experience of working as a community learning disability nurse in both physical and mental health. Phoebe is passionate about improving the support people with learning disabilities receive at the end of life and enjoys teaching and raising awareness about this topic.
Read full profile Phoebe Mooney 

Kim Hydes

Kim is a Clinical Nurse Specialist at St Christopher’s Hospice, caring and supporting individuals and their families who are at end of life in the Bromley community area. She has recently joined the Professional Learning team at St Christopher’s CARE in a seconded role as a visiting lecturer alongside her community role. She will be facilitating the ECHOs for Bromley and Croydon mental health and learning disability care homes plus the Croydon and Lambeth care homes. She will also be teaching on a range of our skills workshops on offer. Kim has worked as a palliative care nurse in the…
Read full profile Kim Hydes

Principles and Practice of Palliative and End of Life Care – Intermediate Three Day Course for Registered Professionals  

Two female nurses talking to each other

This three-day course provides nurses and Allied Health Professionals working in any setting with the essential building blocks to support patients and their families at the end of life.

What will the course look like? 

This three-day foundational course provides health and social care professionals who are registered with a professional body with the essential building blocks to support patients and families at the end of life. This includes a range of settings including: primary care, acute hospitals, the community and care homes.  

Our course embraces a multidisciplinary approach to support a truly holistic response to caring for people approaching the end of life. 

Our trainers bring together expertise from a range of professional backgrounds. While we acknowledge and speak directly to the unique contributions of individual professions during our sessions, we remain grounded in the core value of effective Multi-Disciplinary Team (MDT) working. 

The diagram below highlights the five key principles that form the foundation of our course: 

A diagram of the Five Principles
(diagram adapted from Richardson and Cooper, 2024)

This course is for registered professionals working in the health and social care sector (for example a nurse, Allied Health Professional, doctor, registered manager of a care home etc).

This course enables you to build on foundational knowledge of how to provide person-centred, high quality end of life care. You are likely to work in an environment where you will encounter individuals who need such support, such as Care Homes, primary care, social work etc. 

What is Palliative Care? You will be able to explain the history of palliative care including reference to the World Health Organisation definition and NICE guidelines. You will understand the concept of holistic assessment in end of life. You will explore the concept of personhood applied to people with incurable illnesses. 

You will the foundations in communicating with people at the end of their life and their families, particularly in event of them expressing strong emotions. You will be able to support team members who have encountered challenging conversations.  

You will understand how to initiate conversations regarding advance care planning, how and where to document these.  You will understand the legal aspects and key terms such as Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) and Do Not Attempt Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (DNACPR). You will consider the barriers of advance care planning and how to address these. You will know the process of registering a death and the legal practicalities involved. 

You will be able to initiate conversations around what matters to individuals and to be able to set goals with individuals.  

You will understand physiological changes during dying and death. You will consider the five priorities of care of a dying person. You will explore care in the last weeks of life and last days of life including medicine management at end of life. You will understand and recognise common symptoms in palliative care. 

You will be able to recognise symptoms and how to report changes including identification of palliative care emergencies. You will understand and apply evidence-based management of pain, breathlessness, nausea and vomiting. You will recognise and can respond to common side effects of common medications at end of life and be able to judge when to initiate a syringe driver.  

You will recognise spiritual needs and how this can be expressed. You will be able to demonstrate how to support a person experiencing spiritual distress. You will reflect on your own spiritual framework and how this can impact on how we care.  

You will understand the diversity and normality of grief. You will be able to reflect on your own experiences of grief and bereavement and recognise and respond to cultural diversity in grief. You will explore models of grief and the concept of anticipatory grief. You will evaluate the difference between normal and prolonged or complicated grief. You will be able to plan support and signpost someone who is grieving to appropriate services.  

You will explore key terms such as equity, inclusion, intersectionality and recognise causes of health inequalities. You will gain an understanding of the current challenges in palliative and end of life care for diverse populations. You will explore factors that influence health inequalities and consider ways in which we can raise awareness to reduce barriers to accessing good quality palliative and end of life care. 

You will recognise stress in yourself and others and understand ways to support colleagues and create an effective working environment that is supportive and enhances wellbeing. You will understand how to prevent burnout and compassion fatigue and how to build personal resilience. You will understand the role of members of the Multi-Disciplinary Team (MDT) in collaborative practice and support. You will reflect on your own experiences of loss and illness and how that impacts how you care for others. 

The next three-day course will be held virtually on Zoom:

  • Tuesday 17 November
  • Wednesday 18 November
  • Wednesday 25 November

We will then hold an in-person course in February 2027:

  • Tuesday 2 February
  • Wednesday 3 February
  • Wednesday 10 February

Previous attendees have said:

“[The teachers] were very knowledgeable and delivered the training with utmost passion for the course.”

“Very knowledgeable and was very helpful. Has changed my mindset of palliative care.”

“Very interactive”

“Keep up the good work in imparting knowledge that will have a great impact on how professionals give care.”

Leadership & Management Course for Specialty Registrars and SAS Doctors in Palliative Medicine

In partnership with

Princess Alice Hospice logo

Elevate Your Leadership and Management Skills

Register your interest for our 2027 Leadership & Management Programme for Specialty Registrars and SAS Doctors in Palliative Medicine.

Since our first course in 2003, this well-established programme has helped more than 560 doctors across the UK and Ireland strengthen their leadership skills.

Designed and delivered by senior leaders and clinicians from Princess Alice Hospice, St Christopher’s Hospice, the NHS and 3rd sector leaders, this interactive programme helps future consultants and senior SAS doctors develop the confidence, skills and knowledge needed to lead effectively in today’s healthcare environment.

Two nurses walking and talking together.

Our 2027 programme offers a practical, interactive learning experience designed to enhance your leadership and management capabilities. You’ll gain tools and knowledge that directly support your professional development and align with the specialty training curriculum requirements.

Our Leadership & Management Course is designed to equip you with the knowledge, tools, and confidence to lead effectively and manage complex situations with skill and professionalism. Through practical learning, you’ll develop strategies for handling difficult conversations, resolving conflict, and driving positive change within your team or organisation.

The programme objectives are:

Building effective management skills and abilities
Enhancing practical management skills
Addressing current curriculum training requirements

Upon successful completion, participants will receive 20-25 Category 1 (External) CPD credits accredited by the Federation of the Royal Colleges of Physicians.

Delivered entirely online across 5 days, the course runs at the start of each year and offers flexibility to learn, collaborate, and enhance your leadership skills from wherever you are.

  • Personal Leadership & Professional Development
    Develop your self-awareness, leadership capability, and effective communication skills. Practical exercises focused on influencing, team working, collaboration and building your personal leadership toolkit.
  • Building Leadership Confidence & Resilience
    Overcome imposter syndrome, enhance wellbeing and resilience, and develop your confidence in decision-making. Supporting the transition into senior clinical and consultant leadership roles.
  • Management Skills for Clinical Leaders
    Understand budgets, business cases, job planning and resource management. Develop practical skills in people management, performance conversations and leading teams effectively.
  • Quality Improvement, Governance & Digital Transformation
    Explore quality improvement methodologies, clinical governance, complaints management, CQC requirements and hospice governance. Recognise the opportunities and challenges of digital transformation in healthcare.
  • Organisational Strategy & Workforce Leadership
    Understand healthcare and hospice organisational structures, including boards, trustees, fundraising and communications functions. Examine workforce planning, staff wellbeing and strategies for leading organisational change.
  • Current & Future Challenges in Palliative Care
    Explore the evolving landscape of palliative and end-of-life care, including service pressures, workforce challenges, changing patient needs and opportunities for innovation and sustainable service development.

Attendees must join for all 5 session, the dates are below. Each session will start at 9am and finish at 4pm.

  • Tuesday 12 January 2027
  • Wednesday 13 January 2027
  • Thursday 14 January 2027
  • Wednesday 27 January 2027
  • Thursday 28 January 2027

This course is open to Palliative medicine ST6/7 (ST5/6 2010 curriculum) SAS doctors, and early consultants in palliative medicine based in the United Kingdom.

“The whole course has been excellent and extremely well facilitated. The practical tools and tips – for example managing confrontation have been really good. Being able to engage with the other trainees through the chat function was also helpful.”
– Attendee 2025

To enrol on the course, please email us directly at education@stchristophers.org.uk.

When you email please provide your ST level and CCT/proposed CESR date, if this is applicable to your role.