Carers at Oswaldtwistle’s Willowbrook Home Care are to become some of the best qualified in the country after completing an exclusive course by Macmillan.

The Willowbrook team are studying the cancer charity’s palliative care programme which not only deals with caring for end-of-life patients, but also covers bereavement and supporting the patient’s family.

The in-depth course covers palliative care in much greater detail than other, similar courses covering the topic. But whilst it requires greater involvement from the delegates, completing the course will mean they earn a place among an elite group of qualified carers.

Theresa Swan, for Willowbrook, said: “There is a growing demand for this service, but very few carers in the country hold this level of qualification. We want Willowbrook to be seen as the most dedicated care provider, so it was important that we undertook the Macmillan training.”

A core team of hand-picked individuals began the course in April and will complete their studies in August.

Theresa said: “Macmillan is the biggest name in the UK for caring for cancer patients. The fact that they are behind our training adds enormous credibility to what we are doing here.

“This topic is of particular importance to us as statistics show that the number of people dying from cancer in their own homes is on the increase so we need to improve the standard of care available.”

Macmillan says: “In the UK, over 150,000 people die from cancer every year. Unfortunately, many of these people do not receive the support they deserve when they’re nearing the end of life.

“At this very difficult time, it’s also very common for the dying person’s family and friends to be given little, if any, emotional support and bereavement counselling. Our course helps bring comfort to people’s lives when they need it most.”

The accreditation will further boost Willowbrook’s image as a company dedicated to the training and development of its staff. Its employees accrued more than 200 nationally-recognised certificates in the first six months of 2011 alone.

For more information on Willowbrook and its services go to www.willowbrookhomecare.com or call 01254 390347.