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High-quality end of life care depends on timely, safe and compassionate access to medicines. For non medical prescribers working in palliative and end of life care, prescribing is not an “add-on” – it’s a core clinical skill that directly affects comfort, dignity, and family experience.
Nationally, there is clear recognition that people still do not always get the right support as they approach the end of life, and that access to medicines remains inconsistent. The Government has confirmed that a Palliative Care and End of Life Care Modern Service Framework for England is in development for publication in Spring 2026, aligned to the 10-Year Health Plan and its ambition for personalised, compassionate support in community settings.
At the same time, national scrutiny continues to highlight gaps in access to medicines:
“Patients undergoing palliative or end-of-life care experience ‘insufficient’ 24/7 access to medication”
Pharmaceutical Journal discussion House of Commons report December 2025
“We talked about the need to ensure good access to medicines at the end of life, and the barriers associated with this…Good symptom management is a crucial part of end of life care”
Care Quality Commission July 2025
“In the last week of life 35% of those who died were reported to be severely or overwhelmingly affected by pain and 40% were severely or overwhelmingly affected by breathlessness.””
UK Parliament Terminally Ill Adults (end of life) Bill, January 2025
Non medical prescribers are central to improving this picture — through anticipatory prescribing, robust governance for controlled drugs, safe syringe driver use, and clinically sound prescribing for pain, breathlessness and delirium. The National Audit of Care at the End of Life (NACEL) found that 77% of bereaved people agreed the dying person received sufficient pain relief during their final hospital admission, while 12% disagreed.
This practical, skills-focused conference is designed specifically for nurse and non-medical prescribers 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?
This conference will enable you to:
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
Understand and implement controlled drug governance
Make safer prescribing decisions to reduce delirium and cognitive side effects
Improve safety and reliability in the use of syringe drivers and common combinations
Demonstrate safe practice aligned to professional standards, including evidence for competence and revalidation
Develop skills to lead prescribing practice locally and influence MDT practice
Use audit and evaluation to improve quality and evidence impact in your service
Sessions during the day will also cover a national update for non medical prescribing at the end of life, best practice prescribing in the last days and hours of life, symptom control including breathlessness and prescribing in uncertainty, controlled drugs and syringe drivers from a consultant pharmacist perspective, malignant and complex pain, delirium-safe prescribing, leadership in prescribing practice, and the use of audit and evaluation to improve prescribing quality over time.
