Strategic Framework for Action

The SPPC compiles periodic updates relating to implementation of the Strategic Framework for Action (SFA) and these are available on the SPPC website. The Scottish Government SFA website is here: weblink.

Free personal care for under 65s

Within A Nation with Ambition: The Government's Programme for Scotland 2017-18, the Scottish Government has committed to begin the implementation of 'Frank's Law', providing free personal care to those under 65 who need it. The Scottish Government has also published its feasibility study into extending free personal care to under 65s.

Policy brief: Death, Dying and Devolution

The Institute for Policy Research and the University of Bath have published a policy brief in the form of a collection of articles exploring various policy areas associated with death, dying and bereavement within the context of devolution.

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New resource: Let’s talk about dying

Age UK have published a booklet and short film entitled Let’s talk about death and dying, designed to support people to have conversations with their families about death and dying.

Flying home: helping patients to arrange international travel

Hospice UK have published Flying home: helping patients to arrange international travel, a resource to support the arrangement of travel for people who are seriously ill.

Sharing Current Scottish Practice

The SPPC 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. This month...

Inspiring Leadership programme: an investment in high quality healthcare

A group of eight band six clinical nurse specialists are the first to take part in a new Inspiring Leadership programme, jointly delivered by The Prince & Princess of Wales Hospice, Accord Hospice, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and NHS Education for Scotland. Masterclasses and workshops are combined with action learning and a quality improvement project, and participants have the opportunity to have their work accredited by Glasgow Caledonian University at Masters level. Read more about the project here: SPPC blog

Poster Abstracts of the Month

The SPPC Annual Conference in 2016 featured 36 poster displays, sharing work and research underway across Scotland. Each month, this blog focuses on the content of a few of these posters. This month, we focus on:

• "The Breath of Life: The Whole Shebang!" A Quality Improvement Project to Develop a Self-Management Programme for Breathlessness
• The Development of Carer Services within the Prince and Princess of Wales Hospice
• Turning Best Supportive Care into Active Care. A service development for patients with advanced lung cancer
• Understanding complex need in palliative care: the perceptions of professionals across 3 settings

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The Effect of Communication Skills Training for Generalist Palliative Care Providers on Patient-Reported Outcomes and Clinician Behaviours: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

L.E. Selman et al have published a systematic review and meta-analysis with the objective of determining the effect of communication training interventions for generalist palliative care providers on patient-reported outcomes and trainee behaviors. (Journal of Symptom Management, September 2017, Volume 54, Issue 3, Pages 404–416.e5)

Call for papers: APM Annual Supportive & Palliative Care Conference

Abstracts are invited for original research relevant to supportive and palliative care, for the APM Annual Supportive & Palliative Care Conference. Audits and service evaluations of a sufficient standard will also be considered. The closing date for applications is 29 October 2017.

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What are families most grateful for after receiving palliative care? Content analysis of written documents received: A chance to improve the quality of care

María Aparicio, Carlos Centeno, José Miguel Carrasco, Antonio Barbosa and María Arantzamendi. The full article is available here: weblink.

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To Absent Friends Festival

Preparations are well underway for this year’s To Absent Friends, a people’s festival of storytelling and remembrance. This is set to be the biggest year yet, and festival listings can be viewed on the To Absent Friends website. We’re adding to the list every day, so please get in touch if you would like to get involved. If you're looking for inspiration, some ideas are suggested here: Get Involved.

Food, storytelling and music in memory of absent friends

Join us for an evening of spoken word, storytelling and music in memory of absent friends, with entertainment from:

• Cat Loud, Cabaret Singer
• Donald Smith, Storyteller and Director of the Scottish Storytelling Centre
• Max Scratchmann, Spoken Word Artist

Hosted by the SPPC, a simple three-course meal will be provided by the Cyrenians Community Cook club. Invite some people you'd like to spend the evening with, book a table, and raise a toast to Absent Friends. Tickets are £6. More information and booking is available here: To Absent Friends Supper

Do you work with people who enjoy sharing their memories of times gone by?

This October we are working with Scottish Care and the Luminate Festival of Creative Ageing on an initiative which aims to uncover lost tales of relationships in the 1940s and 50s. We want to find out about the adults that made the decade special - the parents, uncles, aunts, grandparents, teachers, neighbours and friends that left a lasting impression on young people living in post-war Scotland.

Throughout October, we'll be inviting people to take part in a Scotland-wide reminiscence project called Absent Friends from the 40s & 50s. We'll be collecting stories and anecdotes and creating an online collage of remembrance which celebrates and commemorates some of the 'ordinary' people made these decades special. If you’re interested in taking part, please get in touch or check out the website for more information.

Storytelling Workshop

We’re pleased to be working with the Scottish International Storytelling Festival to put on a workshop exploring storytelling and remembrance. With contributions from Donald Smith, Director of the Scottish Storytelling Centre, the workshop will provide an opportunity to explore Absent Friends Suppers as a means of reviving storytelling and remembrance in the Scottish tradition. Monday 30 October 2017, Scottish Storytelling Centre, Edinburgh. £8

Annual Conference

Earlier this month, we were delighted to welcome over 200 delegates to the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh for this year’s SPPC Annual Conference, Making the Best of Hard Times. A film of presentations, along with PowerPoint slides and posters displayed will be made available on our website soon. In the meantime, a summary of some of the highlights of the day is available here: SPPC Annual Conference Summary 2017. Paul Baughan, GP and National Clinical Lead for Palliative and End of Life Care at Healthcare Improvement Scotland has also shared his experiences of the conference within this blog.

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Sue Ryder Human Rights Training

Sue Ryder has worked with the British Institute of Human Rights (BIHR) to produce a practical dip-in guide to help practitioners use human rights as a practical framework for ethical decision-making and for ensuring compassion and dignity in end of life care.

Sue Ryder is also offering interactive training workshops on this topic to build confidence in this approach and train others to teach it in their own place of work, and will be offering training workshops specially adapted for Scotland in 2018. If you are interested in attending or hosting a workshop in Scotland in 2018, please get in touch with Sue Ryder.

Children’s Health Scotland – New Name, Same Mission

Action for Sick Children Scotland has changed its name to Children’s Health Scotland.

Consultation on the role of the Scottish Health Council

Healthcare Improvement Scotland is currently carrying out a consultation on the role of the Scottish Health Council. The closing date for responses to the consultation is 20 October 2017.

National Bereavement Alliance (England)

The National Bereavement Alliance has a new website.

In the Media

BBC News: Concerns raised about palliative care in Caithness

The Guardian: How death has changed over 100 years in Britain.

The Scotsman: Chief medical officer reveals ‘untold story’ over invasive treatment for terminally ill

The Scotsman: Dr Jo Bowden: Taking the worry out of lung cancer

The Scotsman: Karen Filsell: Volunteers at St Columba’s fulfil many functions and more are needed

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Key Aspects of After Death Body Care

Organised by Pushing up the Daisies. 1 October 2017, Glasgow. More information is available here: weblink.

A Master Class on Complicated Grief

A 2-day master class with Professor Katherine Shear, Director of the Centre for Complicated Grief in New York, and Professor of Psychiatry in Social Work at Columbia University, 4 & 5 October, Glasgow. More information is available here: weblink.

St Andrew’s Hospice: Education and Training

St Andrew’s Hospice offers a range of education and training, including in the coming months:

• Advanced Therapeutic Communication Skills - Using Personality Type: 2 & 9 November 2017

• Palliative Care: Principles of Practice: 27 September - 1 November 2017

• Communication in Crisis: 9 October 2017

• Communication, Loss, Grief & Bereavement: 20 & 27 October 2017

• Fundamental Principles of Palliative Care: 3 & 10 November 2017

• Breaking Bad News: 23 November 2017

• Managing Challenging Behaviour: 29 November 2017

• End of Life Care: 30 November 2017

• Communication, Loss, Grief and Bereavement: 4 & 11 December 2017

• Psychosocial & Spiritual Aspects of Health & Social Care: 8 & 15 December 2017

More details are available here: weblink.

Belonging and Identity: A collaborative conference

Organised by Faith in Older People, Interfaith Scotland, Stonewall, Marie Curie and Edinburgh University Chaplaincy. 17 October 2017, Linlithgow. More information is available here: weblink.

Marie Curie Palliative Care Research Conference: People who care: relationships at the end of life

Organised by Marie Curie and the Palliative Care Section of the Royal Society of Medicine. 6 October, London. More information is available here: weblink

Developing Leadership Programme for Nurses

Organised by RCN Scotland. 25 October and 7 November 2017. More information is available here: weblink.

Looking Back, Looking Forward: Marking 40 Years of Palliative Care

Organised by St Columba’s Hospice. 27 October 2017, Edinburgh. More information is available here: weblink.

Workshop: To Absent Friends Suppers

Organised by the Scottish Partnership for Palliative Care and the Scottish International Storytelling Festival. 30 October 2017, Scottish Storytelling Centre, Edinburgh. £8. More information is available here: weblink.

Launch event: Macmillan Tayside Managed Care Network for Palliative and End of Life Care.

30 October 2017, Dundee. More details to follow.

Professorial Inaugural Lecture by Professor Bridget Johnston: End of life care, whose responsibility?

1 November 2017, University Glasgow. More information is available here: weblink

To Absent Friends Community Supper

Organised by the Scottish Partnership for Palliative Care. 7 November, Edinburgh. A chance to share stories and memories of people who have died, with food and entertainment. More information is available here: weblink

Caring Together Programme Celebration and Legacy Event

Organised by Marie Curie, British Heart Foundation and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. 9 November 2017, Glasgow. More information is available here: weblink.

Palliative Care Conference

Organised by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow. 15 November 2017, Glasgow. More information is available here: weblink.

Scottish Cancer Conference

Organised by Cancer Research UK. 20 November 2017, Edinburgh. More information is available here: weblink.

Non Medical Prescribing in Cancer Care

Organised by Healthcare Conferences UK. London, 15 December 2017. More information is available here: weblink.

Care of Dying Adults in the last days of life: Improving care and ensuring adherence to the NICE National Quality Standard

Organised by Healthcare Conferences UK. Monday 15 January 2018, London. More information is available here: weblink.

Priorities for primary care in Scotland - best practice, integration and the new GP contract

Organised by Scotland Policy Conferences. 17 January 2018, Edinburgh. More information is available here.

Inaugural SPICT International Conference 2018: Changing practice,
promoting research and learning together

2 February 2018, University of Edinburgh. More information is available here: weblink.

APM Annual Supportive and Palliative Care Conference, in association with the Palliative Care Congress

Towards evidence based compassionate care. 15-16 March 2018, Bournemouth International Centre. More information is available here: weblink.

Supporting parents through pregnancy loss and the death of a baby

Organised by Child Bereavement UK. 18 April 2017, Aberdeen. More information is available here: weblink.

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