44 A survey of current palliative care training in undergraduate medical, nursing, and allied health courses

Background Impending death is not well recognised. As death occurs in any setting, at any time, it is vital that all healthcare professionals, have adequate training in palliative care. The aim of the survey was to understand what current training is available on the recognition of dying at undergraduate level. Methods A survey of the following UK undergraduate courses: medical, nursing, social work, physiotherapy, occupational therapy was completed. All courses were asked what training was provided in recognising and communication of dying and what time was dedicated to this. Results 73/198 courses responded (37%). 18/20 medical courses provided training in recognising dying with a median of 2 hours dedicated, and 17/20 in the communication of dying with a median of 3 hours dedicated. 80% (43/54) of nursing and allied health professional courses provided some form of training in end-of-life care. Many of these courses expressed frustration at the lack of resources, funding, and time to include more training. Those with more time dedicated to palliative care training often had a ‘champion’ to advocate for it. Conclusion Training in end-of-life care was inconsistent and variable across courses and professions. Further work on how we can facilitate training on these courses is needed.