News

Truacanta Project Report published

The Truacanta Evaluation Report has been published. The report presents the findings from this four-year 'compassionate communities' project which used a community development approach to support five communities to improve local experiences of death, dying, loss and care.

The report reflects on the impact achieved and learning gained from the project, which ran from 2019-2023.  You can read the full report here: Truacanta Evaluation Report

The Truacanta Project was set up to support local communities in Scotland who were interested in taking community action to improve people’s experiences of death, dying, loss and care, using a community development approach. The project was funded by Macmillan Cancer Support and run by the Scottish Partnership for Palliative Care. 

Groups in Ayrshire, Dundee, Highland, North Berwick and Perthshire were supported through Truacanta to build their own local compassionate community activity. The Evaluation Report shows that 

• four out of five of the local projects had clear positive impact at a local level, despite the challenges of establishing a new project during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• progress had been made in all the intended outcome areas set out at the start of the project
• projects have left valuable legacies within their communities
• much local work will be sustained beyond the life of the Truacanta Project

You can find out more about the project here: Truacanta

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:

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.