Course Details

CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT · ENGLAND AND WALES

End-of-Life Care Awareness

Recognition, planning, communication and care for practitioners already working with dying people and their families.

TEN MODULES · 20-QUESTION ASSESSMENT · PRACTITIONER LEVEL · CONTENT STATED AT 22 AUGUST 2026

CPD HOURS

25 hours

ACCREDITED BY

CPD Standards Office

FORMAT

Blended self-paced

SLIDES

PPT Deck

WATCH

Video Lesson

LISTEN

Audio Podcast

QUIZ

Audio Quiz

VISUAL

Infographic

Overview

This course is written for practitioners who already care for people who are dying. It assumes you have been present at a death. It is concerned with the harder part of the job: recognising what is happening early enough for it to matter, saying so plainly, and knowing what the law actually requires of you when someone can no longer decide for themselves.

Most end-of-life care is delivered by generalists rather than specialists. Ten modules follow the course of an illness and its aftermath: what the words mean and what the law requires, how to recognise that someone is dying, how to plan while planning is still possible, what to do in the last days, and what happens afterwards for the family and for you. Every module is grounded in the law and guidance as it stands in England and in Wales, with the jurisdiction stated wherever the two diverge.

Who this course is for

You will get the most from this course if you already care for people who are dying — it assumes clinical or care experience and does not start from first principles.

▸ Ward and community nurses

▸ Healthcare assistants

▸ Care home staff and managers

▸ GPs and primary care teams

▸ Paramedics and ambulance staff

▸ Social workers

▸ Allied health professionals

▸ Chaplains

▸ Hospice staff and volunteers

Learning outcomes

One outcome per module. Each is assessed by the twenty-question assessment at the end of the course.

✓
Distinguish palliative, end-of-life and terminal care, and name the statutory duty to commission palliative care in England and the equivalent framework in Wales.

✓
Recognise the clinical and functional changes indicating that a person is entering the last months, weeks or days of life, and communicate that recognition honestly under uncertainty.

✓
Distinguish an advance statement, an advance decision to refuse treatment and a lasting power of attorney, and state which of them binds you.

✓
Apply the five principles and the two-stage test of the Mental Capacity Act 2005, and record a capacity assessment that would withstand scrutiny.

✓
Explain what a DNACPR decision determines, what consultation is owed, and how to challenge a resuscitation record you believe is being misapplied.

✓
Recognise the symptoms that most commonly cause distress in the last days and escalate them with the information a prescriber needs.

✓
Structure a conversation about dying, communicate prognostic uncertainty in ranges, and respond to a family request to withhold information from a competent adult.

✓
Ask about cultural, religious and personal needs without assumption, and identify where your own service produces unequal access.

✓
Distinguish verification, certification and registration of death, and describe the medical examiner system and the categories requiring referral to a coroner.

✓
Distinguish ordinary grief from grief requiring additional support, signpost appropriately, and recognise the cumulative effect of this work on yourself and colleagues.

Career path

This is CPD, not an entry route into a profession. It will not qualify you to prescribe, to verify death, or to make resuscitation decisions — each requires role-specific training, assessed competency and authorisation by your employer.

▸ Advanced communication skills training

▸ A specialist palliative care role

▸ An end-of-life care champion or link role

▸ Verification of expected death competency

▸ Prescribing qualifications

▸ Formal postgraduate study in palliative care

Course structure

1
What End-of-Life Care Is, and the Law Behind It

2
Recognising That Someone Is Dying

3
Advance Care Planning, ADRTs and Powers of Attorney

4
Mental Capacity and Best Interests

5
CPR Decisions, DNACPR and ReSPECT

6
Symptoms in the Last Days: Recognition and Escalation

7
Communication, Prognosis and Difficult Conversations

8
Culture, Faith, Identity and Unequal Access

9
After Death: Verification, Certification and the Medical Examiner

10
Bereavement, Grief and Sustaining Yourself

Apply and Reflect
Each module closes with an Apply and Reflect scenario. Modules 6 and 10 open with a practitioner-support slide.

Frequently asked questions

Q. Will this qualify me to work in palliative care?

No. This is CPD. It builds and evidences knowledge; specialist palliative care roles require professional registration and role-specific training.

Q. Does it teach symptom management and prescribing?

Deliberately not. Module 6 covers recognising symptoms and escalating them — no doses, regimens, conversion ratios or procedures.

Q. Will it authorise me to verify an expected death?

No. Verification requires specific training, assessed competency and authorisation under your employer’s policy. Module 9 gives context only.

Q. Is it accredited?

That depends entirely on the delivering provider; this package does not state it. Any accreditation must be verifiable.

Q. Does it cover assisted dying?

It states the law accurately and takes no position. Assisting a suicide remains a criminal offence in England and Wales under the Suicide Act 1961.

Q. Does it cover Scotland or Northern Ireland?

No. It covers England and Wales; Scotland operates under different capacity legislation entirely, among many other differences.

Q. How current is the content?

Stated as at 22 August 2026. Statistics are revised annually, and guidance on CPR decisions is periodically reissued — verified before delivery.

Q. Is the content distressing?

Some of it is. Module 6 covers the process of dying and Module 10 covers grief, both preceded by a support slide, with support routes listed.

END-OF-LIFE CARE AWARENESS · 25 CPD HOURS · ACCREDITED BY CPD STANDARDS OFFICE · TEN MODULES

£25.00

Course Features

Lectures 13
Quizzes 2
Duration Lifetime access
Skill level All levels
Language English
Students 3
Certificate Yes
Assessments Self