The Palliative Care Needs Assessment (PCNA) and the new PCNA eLearning Programme

The webinar was targeted at all health and social care professionals and provided a detailed overview of the new Palliative Care Needs Assessment (PCNA) eLearning programme. The PCNA is a tool developed to support professionals in assessing the current and future palliative care needs of patients with life-limiting conditions. The primary outcome of a PCNA is to identify current needs and create an appropriate care plan to meet those needs.

The new eLearning Programme aims to ensure that people with palliative care needs will have the needs of greatest concern to them identified and responded to by skilled and confident staff across all care settings.

The new PCNA eLearning Programme was launched in August 2024, it is a 1-hour programme hosted on HSeLanD. It is aimed at all health and social care professionals including those:

• Who provide the palliative care approach (Level 1, e.g., every clinician at hospital and community level)
• Who provide general palliative care (Level 2, e.g., healthcare professionals who, although not engaged full time in palliative care, have had some additional training and experience in palliative care)

The webinar highlighted how and when the PCNA should be used, and how it can support and enhance the care provided to people with life limiting conditions

The eLearning programme was commissioned by the National Clinical Programme for Palliative Care. The development of the programme group was guided by a high level steering group including clinicians from acute hospitals, general practice, primary care, the nursing home sector, education providers and Specialist Palliative Care services. The All Ireland Institute of Hospice and Palliative Care (AIIHPC) were partners in the development of the eLearning programme.

All professionals are strongly encouraged to undertake the eLearning programme and to use the PCNA as part of their practice.

Dr Feargal Twomey, Consultant in Palliative Medicine at Milford Hospice and the UL Hospitals Group, Limerick, Adjunct Senior Clinical Lecturer at UL’s Graduate Entry Medical School and Clinical Lead, National Clinical Programme for Palliative Care

Martina O’Reilly, Programme Manager, National Clinical Programme for Palliative Care

Winifred Ryan, National Healthcare Communication Programme