Education and Training

The charity has helped fund the post of Lecturer Practitioner in Palliative Care. This role is responsible for the co-ordination of all educational activities with particular emphasis on the district nurse education programme, the Primary Care Team quarterly evening meetings, staff discussion groups and the development of communication skills training. This post has been jointly funded by the Salisbury Hospicecare Trust (the charity) and Bournemouth University and so also provides the opportunity to teach nurses pre- and post-qualification at Bournemouth University. The charity also funds a wide range of on-going educational activities for all palliative care staff.

The charity funds a part-time Educational Co-ordinator. During the last few years training has increased in Salisbury Hospice, both in volume and diversity, and it became necessary to have someone in post to administer the programme, help develop resources and training material, and support the training team. This post also provides support for trainers delivering on-going training to residential and care home staff in their place of work.

All nurses working at the hospice are actively encouraged to further advance their academic training in palliative care with the charity providing financial grants to attend courses and conferences both nationally and internationally. This maintains high standards of patient and family care. Meeting and learning with colleagues from other services allows the sharing of best practice and up to date knowledge.During the last year several nurses made presentations at conferences and published work as a result of advanced training.