SAFEGUARDING
Palliative care is not consistently embedded in undergraduate medical and nursing education. Some professionals can therefore enter the workforce with limited exposure to an area that may later become important to their role.
Workforce development must begin during initial training and continue through induction, professional development and lifelong learning.
Not every doctor, nurse or therapist needs to become a paediatric palliative care specialist. But they do need enough understanding to recognise when palliative care may help, grasp its principles and know when to seek specialist support.
Textbook knowledge matters, but it cannot fully prepare someone for a complex clinical situation. Professionals also need opportunities to apply what they know and understand what good care looks like when a child cannot be cured.
RETHINKING SIMULATION
Simulation has long been used in healthcare education. Traditionally, many scenarios focus on recognising deterioration, intervening quickly and successfully resuscitating the patient. Those skills are essential, but they do not represent every situation a professional will encounter.
In paediatric palliative care, the best outcome is not always preventing a child from dying. It may be recognising that further invasive treatment will not benefit them, managing symptoms, following an agreed care plan and keeping them comfortable.
That means we also need simulations in which the mannequin dies. Death in a training scenario should not automatically represent failure. It can help professionals explore what excellent care looks like when the focus changes from cure to comfort.
Simulation allows teams to rehearse rare but significant situations without placing a child or family at risk. It can develop clinical judgement, teamwork and decision-making, while helping participants understand their role and the support around them.
Martin House has developed specialist simulation courses covering areas of paediatric palliative care not commonly included in traditional training. Our new Education Centre will allow us to expand that work and share our experience more widely.
EDUCATION MUST BE PART OF THE RESPONSE
Children's palliative care services need the right facilities, specialist teams and resources to meet increasing demand. But they cannot work in isolation.
“Preparing the workforce does not mean turning every professional into a hospice specialist. It means ensuring that, when
they meet a child with palliative care needs, they feel equipped to respond well.”
Education must form part of the national response. As children live longer with increasingly complex conditions, the wider workforce needs the knowledge and confidence to support them.
Ultimately, as health professionals, we only have one chance to ensure a child or young person has good palliative care at the end of their life.
Preparing the workforce does not mean turning every professional into a hospice specialist. It means ensuring that, when they meet a child with palliative care needs, they feel equipped to respond well and know where to find support.
Medicine has advanced. Our education must advance with it.
On Tuesday 15 September, Martin House is hosting its inaugural conference dedicated to paediatric palliative care. For more information and ticket details, click here.
www.martinhouse.org.uk
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/martin-house-childrens-hospice-conference-2026- inspiring-excellence-tickets-1994228719784?aff=oddtdtcreator&keep_tld=true
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www.tomorrowscare.co.uk
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