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A 2025 rapid overview of systematic reviews reports that one review found pressure injury prevalence in a palliative care population of 12.4%. 1
This conference focuses on the prevention and management of pressure ulcers at the end of life. Wounds are a common occurrence in patients with terminal illnesses, it has been estimated that approximately one third of palliative care patients will experience a pressure ulcer. Pressure wounds are seen mostly in elderly and terminally ill patients as a result skin failure — a naturally occurring process commonly associated with terminal illness wherein the skin begins to break down and die. At the end of life multiple risk factors can lead to pressure ulcers. The prevention and management of pressure ulcers at the end of life must also be balanced alongside the patients preferences presenting ethical dilemmas such as when prevention and active management should stop in the last days of life. Alongside National Update sessions focusing on Pressure Ulcer Investigation and how this is changing under the Patient Safety Incident Response Framework (PSIRF), this national conference focuses on the reduction and management of pressure ulcers at the end of life, from risk assessment to controlling pain and discomfort in the last days of life.
The conference explores the complexity of pressure ulcer prevention in palliative and end-of-life settings, where care environments, patient condition, and goals of care uniquely influence clinical decision-making. The event will highlight how changes in skin integrity at the end of life and will support you to identify those most at risk of skin breakdown. The conference will support delegates to implement prevention strategies, including the use of validated risk assessment tools, early recognition of skin deterioration, and the delivery of evidence-based interventions tailored to individual care goals. (Prof J Stephen Haynes July 2025)
“Improving and sometimes maintaining the patients quality of life. It is a balance of treatment, comfort and maintaining dignity”
Cornish, quoted by Prof Professor Jackie Stephen-Haynes, Professor in Wound Healing, Birmingham City University
“Towards the end of the life, there is a greater risk of developing pressure sores.”
Marie Curie 2025
“Pressure ulcer prevention and management is an art as well as a science…different people with similar conditions need different care and that care should be holistic and tailored to the individual.”
Linda Nazarko OBE Consultant Nurse West London NHS Trust
This conference will enable you to:
Network with colleagues who are working to improve the prevention and management of pressure ulcers and harm at the end of life
Reflect on national developments and learning including investigation of pressure ulcers and how this is changing under the Patient Safety Incident Response Framework (PSIRF)
Develop your skills in the management of pressure ulcers, and reducing pain and discomfort at the end of life
Developing effective training and education of frontline staff that will empower frontline teams to take ownership for improving care processes, skin
Integrity and preventing pressure ulcers
Understand skin changes at the end of life
Learn from outstanding practice in pressure ulcer reporting and investigation
Support patients at the end of life to improve skin care and care planning
Reflect on the 2025 pressure ulcer and safeguarding guidance
Understand the factors that increase the risk of pressure ulcer development
Reflect on ethical and practical issues in the last days of life and consider when active treatment should be stopped
Improve Nutrition and Hydration
Reduce the risk of device related pressure injury
Learn from case studies involving pressure ulcers at the end of life
Ensure you are up to date with the latest evidence and definitions
Self assess and reflect on your own practice
Supports CPD professional development and acts as revalidation evidence. This course provides 5 Hrs training for CPD subject to peer group approval for revalidation purposes
Prevalence, risk factors and management of pressure injuries and their implications for palliative care: A rapid overview of reviews Palliat Med 2025 Nov 26;40(1):21–30. doi: 10.1177/02692163251393817
