Follow the conference on social media #NMPEndofLife
High-quality end of life care depends on timely, safe and compassionate access to medicines. For nurse and non-medical prescribers working in palliative and end of life care, prescribing is a core clinical skill that directly affects comfort, dignity, symptom control, family experience and the quality of care in the last days and hours of life.
Nationally, end of life care is now under significant policy and parliamentary scrutiny. The Government has confirmed that a new Modern Service Framework for Palliative Care and End-of-Life Care is being developed, with the full framework expected in Autumn 2026. The Minister of State for Care has stated that:
“The MSF will help address rising demand; late identification of need; inequitable variation in access, experience and outcomes; and the wider pressures facing the health and care system.”
Stephen Kinnock MP, Minister of State for Care, Written Statement, 4 June 2026
The Modern Service Framework will be central to improving consistency and reducing unwarranted variation in palliative and end of life care. For prescribers, this means being able to demonstrate safe, evidence-based, person-centred prescribing practice across hospital, hospice, community and care home settings.
Access to medicines remains a critical issue. The House of Commons Health and Social Care Committee has warned:
“It is unacceptable that access to 24/7 palliative and end of life care services remains patchy throughout England.”
House of Commons Health and Social Care Committee, Palliative Care, March 2026
The Committee also stated:
“Individuals nearing the end of life should be able to access the right care, advice and medication, wherever they are and regardless of the time of day.”
House of Commons Health and Social Care Committee, Palliative Care, March 2026
The Care Quality Commission has also emphasised the importance of safe medicines systems at the end of life:
“Care planning and communication are central to safe management of medicines for people during care at the end of their life.”
Care Quality Commission, End of Life Care Planning and Medicines Optimisation, May 2025
The National Audit of Care at the End of Life found that 77% of bereaved people agreed that the dying person received sufficient pain relief during their final hospital admission, but this still leaves too many people and families experiencing care where pain relief, communication or symptom control could have been better.
Non-medical prescribers are central to improving this picture — through anticipatory prescribing, timely review, robust controlled drugs governance, safe syringe driver practice, and clinically sound prescribing for pain, breathlessness, agitation, nausea, delirium and complex symptoms. Prescribers also have a key role in reducing medication-related harm, including cognitive side effects, anticholinergic burden and avoidable delirium, particularly in frail older people and those with multimorbidity.
This practical, skills-focused conference is designed specifically for nurse and non-medical prescribers working in palliative and end of life care who want to strengthen confidence, competence and governance — and take away real tools they can use immediately in clinical practice.
Why attend?
You will learn from an expert multidisciplinary faculty including nurse consultants, palliative care consultants, hospice clinicians and consultant pharmacists from NHS Trusts and specialist palliative care services.
Through the day you will build practical capability in:
Prescribing in the last days and hours of life, including anticipatory prescribing and managing uncertainty
Pain prescribing at the end of life, including malignant pain, complex pain and opioid decision-making
Prescribing for breathlessness, agitation, nausea, respiratory secretions and delirium
Controlled drugs governance, documentation and safe prescribing beyond product licence where appropriate
Syringe drivers and syringe driver combinations: safety, compatibility and practical decision-making
Avoiding cognitive side effects and delirium through medication review, anticholinergic burden assessment and safer prescribing choices
Leading prescribing practice locally, including competence, regulation, supervision, communication and MDT working
Using audit and evaluation to evidence safe practice and improve prescribing quality over time
This conference supports CPD professional development and can be used as evidence for revalidation. The course provides 5 hours of training for CPD, subject to peer group approval for revalidation purposes.
Strengthen confidence and competence in non-medical prescribing for end of life symptom control
Apply practical approaches to anticipatory prescribing in the last days and hours of life
Improve prescribing for pain, breathlessness, agitation, nausea, delirium and other common end of life symptoms
Understand and implement controlled drug governance, including legal and clinical responsibilities, documentation and common pitfalls
Make safer prescribing decisions to reduce cognitive side effects, anticholinergic burden and medication-related delirium
Improve safety and reliability in the use of syringe drivers and common syringe driver combinations
Demonstrate safe practice aligned to professional standards and prescribing competency frameworks
Build a stronger evidence trail for competence, CPD and revalidation
Lead prescribing practice locally through supervision, peer review, MDT working and service improvement
Use audit and evaluation to improve quality, safety and impact in your service
