- SPPC’s response to the Long Term Conditions Strategy Consultation
- SPPC Achievements 2024-25
- Annual Conference 2025: From System Holes to Whole System
- Call for Posters
- Assisted Dying Bill - Perspectives Informed by Palliative Care
News
Good Life, Good Death, Good Grief small grants
Good Life, Good Death, Good Grief is running two small grants schemes to support organisations wishing to participate in this year's To Absent Friends festival...
Small Grants Scheme for To Absent Friends Concerts
A small grants fund has been established to enable community music groups to put on To Absent Friends concerts. The maximum sum available through this programme is £350 and the deadline for applications is 23 August 2017.
More information is available here: small grants for community music groups.
Small Grants Schemes for Organisations
A small grants fund has been set up to support organisations to participate in To Absent Friends, with a particular focus on supporting small organisations to undertake local activities that provide public opportunities for storytelling and/or remembrance of people who have died. The maximum sum available through this programme is £250 and the deadline for applications is 23 August 2017.
More information is available here: small grants scheme
New SPPC Strategy Published
The Scottish Partnership for Palliative Care has published Bringing People Together, a new organisational strategy which sets out our strategic priorities for the next three years.
The strategy was developed by the SPPC Council together with SPPC members and other stakeholders between October 2016 and March 2017.
It outlines four main strategic priorities that the SPPC will work towards between 2017 and 2020:Listen, Inform & Connect
- Generate, gather and share information and expertise which supports organisations and practitioners to improve care.
- Foster networks which support collaboration and joined up working between organisations and individuals towards realising the aims of Scottish Government's Strategic Framework for Action on Palliative and End of Life Care.
- Support research and the spread of effective practice and innovation.
Give Voice
Over the next three years we aim to:
- Provide channels through which the experiences and ideas of those working in this field can influence the development of policy and practice.
- Advocate the value of good care towards the end of life.
- Enable the views and experiences of the public, patients and families to be heard and exert influence.
Promote open and supportive attitudes and behaviours
Over the next three years we aim to:
- Provide information, resources, leadership, ideas, networks and events which promote more open and supportive attitudes and influence public policy.
- Promote the importance of planning ahead for ill health and death, and reducing inappropriate medical interventions towards the end of life.
- Build the inclination, confidence and capacity of other organisations to promote open and supportive attitudes and behaviours relating to death, dying and bereavement.
Ensure our impact
Over the next three years we aim to:
- Improve our funding position.
- Support and develop our employees and volunteers.
- Position ourselves to better engage with and serve all staff who care for people towards the end of life, whether or not they identify their work as"palliative care".
A full copy of the strategy is available to download here: Bringing People Together, SPPC strategy 2017-2020.
Submission to Independent Review of Targets & Indicators
The SPPC has submitted a response to inform the Independent Review of Targets & Indicators being led by Sir Harry Burns.
The paper explores some of the challenges and complexities involved in measuring the quality of patient and carer experiences towards the end of life. It proposes a two-tiered approach to future measurement of this area:
- The introduction of a single, system-wide national survey of bereaved informal carers.
This Independent Review represents an opportunity to move on from using process indicators as proxies for quality. The SPPC therefore propose the introduction of a Scottish National Survey of Bereaved Informal Carers, using the VOICES (Views of Informal Carers - Evaluation of Services) tool.
- IJBs should be expected to use appropriate approaches at local level
During the development of this paper many examples of different approaches being used locally to measure the quality of palliative and end of life care were identified, for example data from complaints; Patient Opinion; real time feedback from patients and family; measures developed by the Outcomes Assessment Complexity Collaborative (OACC); local analysis of process and activity data that may be available via the LIST resource, including KIS; case note reviews; significant event reviews.
The paper recommends that IJBs should be expected and supported to use such approaches locally, and to share learning.
This paper is the product of consultation with the range of stakeholders involved in the SPPC, with particular thanks to the SPPC Council for the considered contribution of expertise and experience from such a wide range of perspectives.
The full report can be accessed here: Measuring improvement: people’s experiences of deteriorating health, death, dying and bereavement.SPPC consults on new 3-year strategy
The SPPC is currently in the final stages of developing its organisational strategy for the next three years. Comments are welcome until 12pm on Friday 3rd March.
Thanks to everyone who has contributed so far, via our online survey and discussions at constituency group meetings or elsewhere. An analysis of our online survey is available here: SPPC stakeholder survey analysis.
The draft strategy for comment can be viewed here: Draft SPPC Strategy.
Scottish Hospices: working to address the challenges facing health and social care
The Scottish Partnership for Palliative Care and all Scottish Independent Voluntary Hospices have worked together to publish a new report which explores the many ways in which Scottish Independent Voluntary Hospices support the Scottish health and social care system.
Scottish Hospices: working to address the challenges facing health and social care in Scotland addresses questions such as:
- What is a hospice?
- Who benefits from hospices?
- What services do hospices provide?
- How do hospices support the wider health and social care system in Scotland?
- How do hospices help address current challenges facing health and social care in Scotland?
The report makes it clear that Scottish hospices have an essential role to play in improving care for individuals, families and communities in Scotland. By working closely with Integrated Joint Boards, hospices can bring leadership, expertise and patient-driven solutions to deliver greater value.
The Full Report and Summary Report are available to download below:
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