The Scottish Partnership for Palliative Care is a charitable company limited by guarantee, and is registered as a Scottish charity with the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator.
The organisation is governed by its Memorandum and Articles of Association which define its sphere of activity and form its constitution. The Memorandum and Articles were adopted on 7 May 1991 and last amended on 14th March 2018.
The Partnership is a membership organisation, and criteria for membership are defined in the Memorandum and Articles of Association. The Partnership has around 50 member organisations. Each member organisation nominates a representative to act as a formal link with the Partnership and exercise their organisation’s vote(s) in Council elections and at Annual General Meetings.
You can download a copy of the Partnership's constitution here. An 'easy read' explanation of the changes that were made to the constitution in 2018 is available here: A guide to the SPPC constitution
The SPPC has the following categories of membership:
Local Statutory Organisations
For example NHS Boards, IJBs, Local Authorities.
Voluntary Hospices
3rd Sector and Social Enterprise Organisations
For example, national and local charities.
Independent Social Care Organisations
For example, care homes, care at home providers, housing associations.
Academic Institutions and Professional Associations
For example university groups, RCGP, RCN.
Regulators & other National Statutory Organisations
For example HIS, NES, NSSS, NHS Health Scotland, NHS24, SAS, Care Inspectorate, GMC, NMC, SSSC.
Associate Members (have no voting rights, open only to organisations not eligible to join as Full Members)
For example funeral services, law firms, Scotland’s Older People’s Assembly, trade unions, arts organisations, other businesses.
Council is the group of trustees with legal responsibility for overseeing the strategic direction and work of SPPC. Council has 16 members. The majority (9) of Council members are elected by SPPC member organisations, with votes taking place within the membership categories as shown in the table above. Each organisation has one vote. Council can co-opt a further 7 members. This gives flexibility to ensure that the Council has the best overall mix of perspectives and skills. Council has published a framework which it will use when making decisions about co-opting members to Council. You can download the framework here.
Council members are elected or co-opted for a period of three years, and may stand for re-election for a second period of three years. Council elects the Partnership’s three office-bearers, Chairman, Deputy Chairman and Honorary Treasurer, from among its own members and is also responsible for the appropriate appointment of Honorary Presidents, Vice-Presidents and Ambassadors.