A brief update on taking forward the Strategic Framework for Action for Palliative and End of Life Care

Education

NES have convened a steering group to oversee development of the proposed educational framework and other training/education dimensions of the Strategic Framework for Action. The group has met once. Two Regional Education roles have been appointed and a third is in process. A number of focus groups to inform the education framework have taken place.

Guidance on strategic commissioning of palliative and end of life care

A group is being convened to consider the development of this guidance and will meet towards the end of March.

Improvement support

The Scottish Government has had discussions with five health and social care partnerships.

Data & Measurement

The Scottish Government is considering funding a post at ISD.

Babies, children and young people

The Scottish Children’s and Young People’s Palliative Care Executive (SCYPPEx) is undertaking a review of how their networks can best inform and support the Scottish Government in terms of all the commitments, but with a special emphasis on commitment 4.

Scottish Research Forum for Palliative and EoL Care

An informal meeting to discuss the development of a new Research Forum for palliative and end of life care was held at the Palliative Care Congress in Glasgow on 11 March. The Forum is being co-Chaired by Professor Scott Murray and Professor Bridget Johnston. The next meeting of the new forum is being planned for 6 May at St Columba’s Hospice, Edinburgh. For more information about how to get involved please contact Bridget Johnston or Scott Murray. To register for a place at the meeting on 6 May (10.30am to 4pm) please email Susan Thorburn directly, with a copy to to Anne Finucane. All are welcome, but places are limited by the venue to 40, so please book soon.

National Advisory Group/ Stakeholder Group

The Scottish Government is considering what arrangements would most efficiently and effectively provide advice to support implementation.

Proposal for Scotland's National Dementia Strategy

The Scottish Government has published its proposal for Scotland's National Dementia Strategy 2016-19. The proposal is designed not to be exhaustive but to lay out Scottish Government proposals on the major areas of policy and direction on dementia for the next three years that should form the basis of Scotland's next three-year National Dementia Strategy which will be published later in 2016. Also published is the National Dementia Dialogue 2015-16 Engagement Report which provides a short analysis of comments and feedback captured as part of the National Dementia Dialogue.

Cancer Strategy

The Scottish Government's has published a new cancer strategy, Beating Cancer: Ambition and Action, aiming to tackle cancer by improving prevention, detection, diagnosis, treatment and after care. The strategy is designed to serve as the future blueprint for cancer care in Scotland over the next five to ten years.

National Care Standards Review

The latest update on the ongoing review of the National Care Standards is available here: weblink.

Quality of Care Reviews: Design Panel Final Report

The consultation report of the Quality of Care Reviews consultation exercise is now available. Feedback from the consultation has been used to inform the Design Panel Final Report, which includes recommendations for implementation.

Staff Changes at Scottish Government

Tim Warren has recently taken over from Janice Birell as Policy Lead for Palliative and End of Life Care. Tim joins the team after a 3 year secondment working as a Programme Director with the ALLIANCE, where he led work for the House of Care Project, ALISS and Primary Care development projects.

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The role of social workers in palliative, end of life and bereavement care

A new resource has been developed by the Association of Palliative Care Social Workers in collaboration with the former College of Social Work. The role of social workers in palliative, end of life and bereavement care sets out what palliative care social work is, the role and expertise of palliative care social workers and what palliative care social work can offer to support people. It also aims to help all social workers to be ready to support people who are dying or bereaved.

Management of Hospital Post-mortem Examinations: Draft standards for consultation

The Draft Standards for Management of Hospital Post-Mortem Examinations are now available for download and comment from the Healthcare Improvement Scotland website, with a closing date of Monday 11 April 2016.

Sharing Current Scottish Practice

Macmillan Pharmacy Service Annual Report

The Macmillan Pharmacy Service has published its Annual Report for 2014-15. The overarching aim of the service is to support community pharmacy and the wider primary care health and social care team to advance person-centered, sustainable, high quality, safe and timely pharmaceutical palliative care services as close to home as possible for patients, carers and families.

Enhanced End of Life Care in Abbotsford Nursing Home

The Abbotsford Nursing Home provides an enhanced End of Life Care service for when a person is no longer able to be supported at home or has been admitted to hospital but would prefer his/her place of care to be closer to home, family and friends. The service has been developed by a close working partnership of District Nursing, GPs, NHS Specialist Palliative Care, and The Ayrshire Hospice, and is funded through the Scottish Government's Integrated Care Fund. More information about this service is available here: Enhanced End of Life Care in Ayrshire Nursing Home.

The SPPC Sharing Current Scottish Practice blog provides an opportunity for people to share examples of current Scottish palliative care practice that might be of interest to the palliative care community more widely. If you know of work underway that might be relevant for sharing on our website, please get in touch.

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Scottish Research Forum for Palliative and EoL Care

An informal meeting to discuss the development of a new Research Forum for palliative and end of life care was held at the Palliative Care Congress in Glasgow on 11 March. The Forum is being co-Chaired by Professor Scott Murray and Professor Bridget Johnston. The next meeting of the new forum is being planned for 6 May at St Columba’s Hospice, Edinburgh. For more information about how to get involved please contact Bridget Johnston or Scott Murray. To register for a place at the meeting on 6 May (10.30am to 4pm) please email Susan Thorburn directly, with a copy to to Anne Finucane. All are welcome, but places are limited by the venue to 40, so please book soon.

Top 25 studies in hospice and palliative care

In 2015, the GeriPal blog published a post asking for thoughts on what articles should belong on a list of the top 25 articles in hospice and palliative care. Their final top 25 list has been revealed... Top 25 studies in hospice and palliative care.

Call for Papers – Hospice UK Conference 2016

Hospice UK have issued a call for papers for their annual conference, which takes place in Liverpool this November. Do you have a piece of finished or ongoing work – or even a bright idea – that you want to share with the wider hospice and palliative care sector? For more details and to submit an abstract, check out the conference website.

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Managing end of life medications at home—accounts of bereaved family carers: a qualitative interview study

This study from 2014 explored how bereaved family members recall managing end of life medications when delivering care to a patient dying at home in England. (Authors: Sheila Payne, Mary Turner, David Seamark, Carol Thomas, Sarah Brearley, Xu Wang, Susan Blake and Christine Milligan. Reference: BMJ Support Palliat Care doi:10.1136/bmjspcare-2014-000658)

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Photo Exhibition

The SPPC is currently working with award-winning Glasgow-based photographer Colin Gray to produce a striking new photo exhibition which highlights that, if ‘it takes a village to raise a child’, it also takes a village to support someone who is dying and their family. We are currently looking for venues to host the exhibition for a day or longer during Awareness Week (9-15 May) - libraries, health centres, town halls, hospitals, schools, hospices... If you would like to host the exhibition please get in touch.

A night of comedy at The Stand

Join us for a night of death-themed comedy featuring five great acts - Keir McAllister, Stuart Mitchell, Elaine Miller, Gary Faulds and host Susan Morrison, organised and hosted by the world-famous Stand Comedy Club in Edinburgh. Tuesday 19th April, doors open at 19:30, show starts at 20:30 - come along, have a good night, and support the great work of Good Life, Good Death, Good Grief and the SPPC. More information and ticket booking is available here: weblink.

SPPC Annual Conference 2016

This year’s SPPC Annual Conference will take place on 22 September 2016 at the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. Speakers confirmed so far include:

• Professor Charles Normand, Edward Kennedy Professor of Health Policy and Management at the University of Dublin, Trinity College and visiting professor at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. He will be speaking about health economic evaluation of palliative care and making the case for palliative care in times of austerity.
• Professor Brendan McCormick, Head of the Division of Nursing/Head Graduate School and Associate Director Centre for Person-centred Practice Research at Queen Margaret University, who will be addressing issues of person-centred practice.
• Dr Catherine Calderwood, Chief Medical Officer for Scotland.

Further details and booking will be announced in the coming months.

Spirituality and Palliative Care Conference

The SPPC is working with Faith in Older People to host Spirituality in Palliative Care, a conference designed to provide delegates with the opportunity to consider recent policy initiatives, their impact in relation to spirituality and palliative care in a variety of settings, and the extent to which spiritual care is incorporated as an integral part of person-centred care towards the end of life. The conference will take place on Tuesday 7 June, starting at 10am, and cost £75, in an Edinburgh venue to be confirmed. Booking is available here: weblink

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If ‘it takes a village to raise a child’, it also takes a village to support someone who is dying and their family. The theme for this year's Death Awareness Week Scotland (9-15 May) is #ItTakesAVillage, and we hope the week will provide an opportunity for individuals and organisations across Scotland to undertake activities that promote the positives of living in a society where people can be open about dying, death and bereavement. There are lots of ways to get involved...

Hold an Event

Awareness week is an opportunity for interested individuals and organisations to undertake local activities to promote the positive benefits of planning ahead. This can encompass a range of activities, from an information stand promoting the importance of anticipatory care planning, power of attorney and having a will, to holding a death cafe.

If you are planning an event as part of Awareness Week please get in touch - we would love to promote it on the GLGDGG website. If you are looking for ideas for your event, check out our website: Awareness Week.

Volunteers sought - tell your own story

For Awareness Week we are gathering together a collection of stories for the GLGDGG website to illustrate that as people’s health deteriorates, care and support comes in many guises and is needed by many different people.

Each story will focus on an individual who has (or is) involved in caring for someone as their health deteriorates, or providing support to their family. Each excerpt will be brief, aiming to connect with readers and focus on an engaging aspect of an individual's experience - a moment, an insight, an emotion... We are therefore currently looking for people who might be willing to share their experiences with us.

We need stories from people with all kinds of roles and experiences - family carers, family members, care home staff, home care workers, district nurses, neighbours, peer support groups, funeral directors, community staff, GPs, nurses, allied health professionals, specialists in palliative care, teachers, bar staff,and many more... If you might be interested in sharing your own insights and experiences please get in touch.

Recognising Achievements

For the first time this year, an award will be made to a person, organisation or publication in recognition of their contribution to promoting more openness about death, dying and/or bereavement in Scotland in the last 12 months.

Can you think of a person who you think has worked hard to promote more openness about death? Is there a publication that you think has had a positive impact on the way we perceive death and dying in Scotland? If so, please get in touch with your nominations.

Health promoting palliative care award

To show that death is everyone's business, we'd love to see events held in a range of venues this awareness week... hospitals, GP surgeries, town halls, shopping centres, libraries, schools, arts venues, sports venues, cafes, pubs...

The NHS Board or Integration Authority that manages to cover the widest variety of venues will win the first ever Awareness Week Health Promoting Palliative Care Award Scotland in recognition of their efforts.

Tell your organisation's story

Awareness week is an opportunity for organisations to celebrate and promote the excellent work they do by sharing the stories of staff and volunteers.

To fit in with the #ItTakesAVillage theme, stories should include a range of roles, and link back to the information on the GLGDGG website. We'd be keen to work with organisations to support promotion of their stories - if this is something your organisation would be interested in, please get in touch.

Resources

We are currently working to produce new resources that will be available for Awareness Week 2016. This will include a new exhibition, and web content that illustrate that as people's health deteriorates and they approach death, care and support comes in many guises and is needed by many different people. We also already have available eleven information leaflets, web-based practical information, and conversation menus. More information about the resources and how to order them is available here: Resources.

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In the Media

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Comedy at The Stand

The Stand Comedy Club in Edinburgh is organising a Benefit in aid of the Scottish Partnership for Palliative Care. The night will include five great comedy stand up acts, and all proceeds will go directly to the SPPC. Tuesday 19th April, doors open at 1930 - save the date and book your tickets here: weblink.

Save the date: SPPC Annual Conference 2016

This year's Scottish Partnership for Palliative Care Annual Conference will take place on 22 September 2016 at the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. More details will follow when available.

Effective Non-Medical Prescribing in End of Life Care

Friday 15 April 2016, London. (Organised by HC-UK Conferences.) More information is available here: weblink or email

Funeral Poverty

21 April, Edinburgh. (Organised by Holyrood Events.) More information is available here: weblink

Implementing the NICE Clinical Guideline on Care of the Dying Adult

19 May 2016, London. More information is available here, or email Hanisha.

'Rehabilitation in palliative care: Supporting people to live actively until they die'

6 May 2016, Cumbernauld. (Organised by Strathcarron Hospice.) More information is available here: weblink

Paediatric Continence Workshop

24 May 2016, Edinburgh. (Organised by the Association for Continence Advice.) More information is available here: weblink

Priorities for palliative and end of life care in Scotland

2 June 2016, Edinburgh. (Organised by Scotland Policy Conferences.) More information is available here: weblink.

Interventional Techniques for Cancer Pain

3 June 2016, Beatson West of Scotland Cancer Centre, Glasgow. (Organised by West of Scotland Interventional Cancer Pain Service, Association for Palliative Medicine, and the Beatson West of Scotland Cancer Centre.) For more information please contact Claire O’Neill on 0141 301 7041 or email.

Alzheimer Scotland Annual Conference

3 June 2016, Edinburgh. More information is available here: weblink.

Spirituality in Palliative Care

(Organised by the Scottish Partnership for Palliative Care and Faith in Older People.) Tuesday 7 June, 10am, £75, at an Edinburgh venue to be confirmed. Booking is available here: weblink

Developing Effective Cancer Survivorship Services

14 June 2016, London. More information is available here: weblink or email Hanisha.

Is Heaven for Real? Significant Implications of Near Death Experiences

29 - 31 July 2016, Winchester. More information is available here: weblink

Strathcarron Hospice Annual Conference: New Directions In Palliative Medicine - Living with Dying: Challenges Towards the End of Life

29 - 30 September 2016, Polmont. More information is available here: weblink.

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Hospice UK Annual Conference – ‘People, Partnerships and Potential’

16 to 18 November 2016, Liverpool. More details will follow as the programme develops, and booking will open soon. In the meantime, you can sign-up to the bulletin to be kept informed about the latest conference news.

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