News

The SPPC has published Grasping the Nettle: What action can we take to improve palliative and end of life care in Scotland? The paper articulates the views and expertise of SPPC member organisations and stakeholders with the aim of supporting, enriching and informing the development of the forthcoming Scottish Government Strategic Framework for Action on Palliative and End of Life Care (SFA).

This work was led by a multi-disciplinary subgroup of the SPPC Council and developed in consultation with SPPC members and other relevant stakeholders.

Grasping the NettleŸ:

• explores what people need when faced with the reality of deteriorating health and death, bearing in mind that these experiences are influenced by many factors outside formal service provision;
• Ÿexplores and clarifies terminology;
• sets out a vision for a Scotland where people’s wellbeing is supported even as their health declines;
• outlines the current landscape relating to palliative and end of life care, including policy, barriers, and key issues;
• Ÿdescribes how a Strategic Framework for Action can add value, sets out 4 outcomes it should work towards, and 15 key challenges that need to be addressed in order to achieve these outcomes;
• Ÿproposes a number of practical actions that should be undertaken in the next five years to improve people’s experiences of death, dying and bereavement in Scotland.