Background St Peter’s Hospice provides palliative and end-of-life care to adults in the Bristol area, regardless of their residency. This project partnered with three local prisons. Through established partnerships, prison staff identified the need to improve palliative and end-of-life care and learn how to develop bereavement support to imprisoned people and their families.

Aim To improve local prison staff’s palliative, end of life and bereavement knowledge and skills.

Methods

1. Education sessions covering topics including: palliative and end–of–life care, last days of life, what a good death looks like in prison, advance care planning and communication skills. A 2–day course, ran four cohorts.

2. Bereavement training: To enable prison staff to provide informed, compassionate bereavement support to imprisoned people, and their families. A 2–day course, ran three cohorts.

Results Total of 41 staff attended.

• Attendees reported that the sessions provided a safe space to practise listening and hearing without being focused solely on problem solving.

• Healthcare staff expressed that they now feel confident in their ability to holistically assess a person’s symptoms and initiate conversations about what matters most to the individual.

• It validated what prison staff were already doing well, recognising the skills, humanity and instinct they use in their work.

• Provided an exploration of the nature of compassionate care, how to find and provide this within a prison.

• Raised awareness of opportunity for hospice support/referral with a wider range of staff.

100% of attendees stated that they either agreed or strongly agreed that they would feel confident in using the knowledge they learnt.

Conclusion Feedback confirmed that this education and training is positively impacting prisoners and their families by increasing prison staff’s knowledge and skills to be able to offer compassionate palliative and end-of-life and bereavement support.