- Assisted Dying Bill
- Assisted Dying Bill Published
- Winners of the Derek Doyle Poster Prize
- Palliative Care Poster Parade
- SPPC Submission to Scottish COVID-19 Inquiry
News
Scottish Bereavement Summit
The report of the Scottish Bereavement Summit has been published. The report draws attention to the difficulties faced by people who are grieving in Scotland, and sets out recommendations of how to address some of the key issues.
Access the full report here: Scottish Bereavement Summit Final Report
A summary version of the report is available here: Scottish Bereavement Summit Summary Report
Who supported the summit?
The Scottish Bereavement Summit took place on 13 October 2022. It was supported by a collaboration of organisations working to improve bereavement support in Scotland, including: Richmond’s Hope; Good Life, Good Death, Good Grief; Held in our Hearts; Accord Hospice; The Haven; Kilbryde Hospice; Independent Age; Macmillan Cancer Support; Brightest Start; Bereavement Charter Group; Cruse Scotland; Team Jak; ARC; Fife Young Carers; Funeral Link; Scottish Partnership for Palliative Care; St Vincent’s Hospice; Sands; St Andrew’s Hospice; Marie Curie; MND Scotland; Ardgowan Hospice; Childhood Bereavement Network; Child Bereavement UK; Faith in Older People; Baby Loss Retreat; Sue Ryder; Scottish Care; IANPC; Whyte Family Trust; The Prince & Princess of Wales Hospice; Hospice UK; Alternatives Counselling & Listening Rooms; Sunrise Partnership; St Margaret of Scotland Hospice.
What happened at the Summit?
The Bereavement Summit brought together 136 people who work within the bereavement sector in Scotland. The gathering gave attendees the opportunity to explore how to work together to improve experiences of bereavement in Scotland, focusing on three specific areas:
- Formal bereavement services: how can formal bereavement support services (which provide for example counselling and access to peer support groups) be strengthened and improved?
- Informal bereavement support: what can be done to support communities of all kinds (including workplaces, schools, families and neighbourhoods) to provide better informal support to people who have been bereaved.
- Health and social care staff who experience multiple bereavements: how can staff get the support they need at work.
Recommendations
The Report suggests the following 10 recommendations:
- Improve signposting to available support.
- Increase public awareness, confidence, comfort and skills relating to bereavement issues.
- Ensure strategic direction, accountability and responsibility for improving bereavement support.
- Enable schools and educational institutions to be more supportive of people who are bereaved.
- Address equity/equality issues and improve access to services for people with a range of needs.
- Encourage and support workplaces to be better at supporting bereaved staff.
- Support opportunities for professionals to network, learn and share good practice.
- Improve Bereavement Support for Health and Social Care staff.
- Improve how bereavement services, projects and initiatives are funded.
- Ensure future action is informed by evidence, information and builds on existing work.
Access the full report here: Scottish Bereavement Summit Final Report
A summary version of the report is available here: Scottish Bereavement Summit Summary Report
More information about the Bereavement Summit, including a film of the presentations, is available here: Bereavement Summit outputs.
SPPC response to Review of National Outcomes
The SPPC has submitted a response to the Scottish Government's review of the National Outcomes. The SPPC response can be viewed here: SPPC Response to Review of National Outcomes
Update on the forthcoming palliative and end of life care strategy
SG has committed to developing a new strategy for palliative and end of life care, taking a whole system, population and public health approach to development and delivery.
Leadership, Governance Structures and Membership
Kirsty Boyd (former Palliative Medicine Consultant, NHS Lothian, and Reader in Palliative Care Edinburgh University) took up her role as the SG National Clinical Lead in Autumn 2022. Kirsty is supported by a Clinical and Practice Advisory Group (CPAG) which provides specialist and practitioner expertise and experience in palliative care within acute hospitals, the community, and hospices for adults and children.
A Strategy Steering Group of around 30 stakeholders will oversee the development and delivery of the strategy, and has met in October 2022, December 2022, and February 2023 so far. A wider Palliative Care Reference Group is also being established (primarily email-based). There is also an SG Internal Contacts Group which aims to link palliative care to other relevant workstreams in SG.
Work to Date
A high-level statement of aims, principles, priorities and approach to developing the strategy has been produced. This paper, which continues to evolve, can be found here.
There is a strong commitment to developing a strategy which is evidence informed. With this in mind evidence is being gathered on:
- Relevant policies, strategies and research
- Current and projected palliative care needs
- Specialist, health board, and health and social care partnership services and support for adults, and, babies, children and young people and their families.
- User experience and outcomes
While the steering group develops the strategy over the course of 2023, work on key priorities will continue in parallel. One positive recent development has been the identification of funding by SG to sustain the Scottish Palliative Care Guidelines through Health Improvement Scotland.
SG are planning to establish a webpage to host papers and updates relating to the development and delivery of the strategy. The Policy Team can be contacted via peolc@gov.scot.
SPPC wins award
The Scottish Partnership for Palliative Care has won the prestigious Voluntary Sector Partnership Award at this year's annual Scottish Public Service Awards.
The award, sponsored by SCVO, is designed to recognise public and third-sector organisations working in partnership to deliver better outcomes in public services. It highlights that these partnerships provide the day-to-day public services that support and care for people and communities throughout Scotland. And they are often lifelines for vulnerable citizens who could otherwise go unnoticed.
The SPPC won the award in recognition of its work to improve people's experiences of living with serious illness, caring, dying and grieving in Scotland.
SPPC brings together over 100 partners from across Scotland, within the statutory, third sectors and independent sectors, including NHS Boards, hospices, HSCPs, charities, professional associations, social care and community groups. Partners bring money, expertise and a passion to improve experiences during the most difficult phases of life.
The award highlights that, over 30 years, quietly and with a low profile, SPPC has enabled collaboration which has led to service improvement, innovation, education, policy development, problem solving and education, within a domain that people often find hard to think about. It also works directly with the public, enabling community-led action, public education and information resources.
Winners of the Derek Doyle Poster Prize
The Palliative Care Poster Parade 2022 featured 55 posters, showcasing a huge variety of work from across Scotland. Each year, the Derek Doyle Poster Prize is awarded to the poster that gets the most public votes.
As many people will know Derek was a key figure in Scotland, the UK and globally in the development of palliative care – instrumental in establishing palliative medicine as a speciality, first chair of the Association for Palliative Medicine, first Vice-Chairman of the European Association for Palliative Care and a founding member of the International Association for Hospice and Palliative Care.
This year's winners were:
1st: Patient, Family and Staff Experience of the ReSPECT Process
By Cara Finlay – 4th Year Medical Student, University of Dundee and Morag MacRae – Patient Safety Development Manager, NHS Tayside (Pictured above)
2nd No Time to Lose: Addressing the housing needs of people with MND
By Susan Webster, MND Scotland.
3rd The power of storytelling: building up a team mindset to tell the Hospice story
By Ailsa Herd, Communications Manager, Strathcarron Hospice
A recording of the Poster Parade Event is available here: Poster Parade Event
Photo: Ellie Salter, Cara Finlay, Morag Macrae.
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