Background Surgical training devotes little time to developing skills within palliative care domains, making it challenging to understand the requirements when managing a patient at end of life. The National Audit of Care at the End of Life (NACEL 2022/2023) found only 49% of healthcare professionals completed formal training within the last 3 years. Staff feedback highlighted the need for improved palliative care teaching in a UK surgical department.

Methods A ‘Plan, Do, Study, Act’ (PDSA) cycle was used to create standardised face-to-face teaching sessions. These were designed with the palliative care team and focused on addressing highlighted learning needs. Initially, 30 randomly selected surgical patient’s notes were audited using NACEL’s audit tool. A survey was sent to department professionals with 26 respondents (43% response rate).

Results Whilst 77% of staff members reported they felt confident in recognising a patient dying immediately (hours-to-days), the audit found 40% of deaths occurred ≤ 24 hours of recognition of dying. 47% lacked confidence in responding to practical and social needs of the dying patient, and 92% wanted formal training. A 5-part teaching series was created. This consisted of 30-minute mixed-method teaching sessions on the following: How to recognise a dying patient; symptom management and prescribing; challenging conversations; PEACE planning, and dealing with practical and social needs. The sessions will be rolled out to all relevant staff. Multistage feedback will be collected and assessed using Kirkpatrick’s evaluation model and thematic analysis to study impact.

Conclusions Earlier recognition of dying patients can allow for better care and communication. This longitudinal learning tool will enhance exposure and understanding of key palliative care domains. Outcomes will be measured during the next audit cycle and further work is underway to ensure a high standard of delivery of sessions, with potential expansion of resources into other hospital departments.