Funeral Costs

The Scottish Government has launched a consultation on draft guidance on funeral costs. The consultation will close on 8 November.

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Opportunities to share work

Are you involved in an interesting project or in an area of work that you would like to discuss with or show to others in Scotland with an interest in palliative care? Why not apply to display a poster of your work at this year's SPPC Annual Conference?

The annual poster exhibition is an essential part of learning and sharing best practice at the conference. Last year's exhibition showcased a record 46 posters, sharing a variety of work from across Scotland.

If you are interested in presenting a poster to be part of the exhibition, please download complete a poster proposal form and email it to Pauline by Friday 9 November 2018. The poster proposal form can be downloaded here: form

Sharing current Scottish practice

The SPPC Annual Conference in 2017 featured 46 poster displays, sharing work and research underway across Scotland. Each month, our 'sharing current practice' blog focuses on the content of a few of these posters. This month, we focus on six of these:

• Introduction of a 7-day Clinical Nurse Specialist service, a partnership approach
• Is palliative care appropriate for people with major stroke?
• Is Scotland ready to create its own day of the dead?
• "Living Right up to the End" What people with long term conditions want to support them to plan ahead
• More Care Less Pathway approach to end of life care
• Moving towards a vision of Person Centred Culture (PCC) across the hospice: do all eyes see the same truth?

A full list of posters from the 2017 SPPC Annual Conference is available here: Poster displays 2017.

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Questionnaire on public education needs

We are running a survey designed to find out what members of the public would find most useful to learn about supporting people towards the end of life. The questionnaire is aimed at the general public (not professionals). We'd be grateful if you could circulate details around any patient, carers or other networks you have access to: survey on public education needs.

Palliative Care in Prisons Conference

SPPC is working with Macmillan, NHS Scotland and the Scottish Prison Service to hold an event to bring people together to discuss palliative care in Scotland’s prisons. The conference will highlight work currently being undertaken and is a great opportunity to learn how we can all work together to improve palliative and end of life care in Scotland’s prisons. More information is available here: Palliative Care in Prisons Conference

Save the date: Compassionate Communities Scotland Conference 2019

Following the popularity of the Everyday Compassion Conference last April, we are planning a Compassionate Communities conference on 2 May 2019 in Glasgow. More details will follow.

Health and Care (Staffing) (Scotland) Bill

The SPPC has submitted a response to the Health & Sport Committee call for views on the Health and Care (Staffing) (Scotland) Bill.

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Scottish Partnership for Palliative Care Annual Conference 2018

Wednesday 28 November, Royal College of Physicians Edinburgh

We're delighted to launch the programme of this year's SPPC Annual Conference. Plenary topics include:

Bridging between loss and meaning: when meaning is lost

Christian Juul Busch, Hospital Chaplain, Copenhagen University Hospital

Making sense of “the good death”: matching concepts, policy and practice to 21st century needs

Kristian Pollock, Professor of Medical Sociology, Nottingham Centre for the Advancement of Research into Supportive, Palliative and End of Life Care

Social care as the art of listening to human story: the cradling of loss

Donald MacAskill, Chief Executive, Scottish Care

Whose Decision is it Anyway?

Deans Buchanan, Consultant in Palliative Medicine, Paul Baughan, GP and Clinical Leade for Palliative and End of Life Care (iHub) and (tbc) Shobhan Thakore, Emergency Medicine Consultant

The NHS at 70 – a time for celebration, vigilance and action

Paul Gray, Director General for Health and Social Care for the Scottish Government and Chief Executive of NHSScotland

There will also be an extensive poster display, Arts Space, and break-out sessions on the topics of human rights, cirhossis, mindfulness meditation and ReSPECT.

The conference costs £145, with a reduced rate for £105 for employees of member organisations. For more information and to book a place, visit the SPPC Conference webpage.

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Safe Medical Staffing

The Royal College of Physicians has published a report on Safe Medical Staffing. The report represents the start of an ongoing process to help hospitals ensure that they have sufficient medical staff to meet the needs of their patients and deliver safe patient care.

End of Life Doula UK

Living Well Dying Well have launched a membership organisation, End of Life Doula UK, for Living Well Dying Well Doulas and Doulas in training. More information is available from Alizoun Dickinson: 07887 840663 or Lizzie Neville: 07825 795808 or by emailing Living Well Dying Well.

Consulting on RPS polypharmacy professional guidance

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society is consulting on draft polypharmacy guidance. The draft guidance aims to outline the size of the challenge of problematic polypharmacy, highlight the good work being done to address it and make clear recommendations to organisations and individuals involved with medicines as part of the care of the people they serve. The closing date for the consultation is 28 August 2018.

Churchill Fellowships

Churchill Fellowships are now open for applications, including a dedicated award category for topics in ‘Healthcare: innovations for the twenty-first century’. They are seeking applications for projects that will make a positive contribution in the areas of public and community health, clinical practice, technology and innovation, teaching and training. There is also a dedicated award category for Nurses and Allied Health Professionals.

In the media

BBC: Supreme Court backs agreed end-of-life decisions

Courier: Roxburghe House Celebrates 40th Anniversary

The Independent: NHS kept using 'danger syringes' in bid to save money , investigation claims

The Scotsman: It's good to talk about life and death: something that affects us all

The Scotsman: Richard Meade: Time to get over our hang-ups about dying, death and bereavement

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In each edition of Update we try to end with something a little bit thought-provoking or different... Technology has an increasingly important role to play in all our lives. In social care, technology is being used to enable individuals to maintain their independence for as long as possible, to support staff more effectively in their work, and to ensure that individuals remain in control of their supports for as long as possible.

But how does use of new technologies in social care relate to human rights, in particular in the care of older persons? Scottish Care has recently published TECHRIGHTS: Human Rights, Technology and Social Care, exploring these issues.

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SPPC Annual Conference 2018: The Sense of an Ending: stories, meanings and understanding

Bookings are now open for the Scottish Partnership for Palliative Care Annual Conference, which will take place on Wednesday 28 November 2018 at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. More information, including confirmed speakers, is available here: weblink

Save the date: Compassionate Communities Scotland Conference 2019

2 May 2019, Glasgow. Organised by Scottish Partnership for Palliative Care and Good Life, Good Death, Good Grief. More details to follow.

Introduction to Palliative Care

Four part course organised by St Margaret of Scotland Hospice. 22 & 29 August and 5 & 12 September 2018. For more information contact Margaret Donnelly.

Co-designing Future Transitions in Palliative Care

4 September 2018, Glasgow. Organised by the Scottish Universities Insight Institute. More information is available here: weblink.

Palliative Care for All – The Big Debate

5 September 2018, Edinburgh. Organised by Marie Curie, British Heart Foundation and Chest, Heart and Stroke Scotland, on behalf of the Scottish Non-Malignant Palliative Care Forum. More information is available here: weblink.

Conversations about Death and Dying

5 September 2018, Edinburgh. Organised by Friends at the End. More information is available here: weblink.

Palliative Care in Scotland’s Prisons

10 September 2018, Central Hall, Edinburgh. With the support of Macmillan, Scottish Prison Service, NHS Scotland & SPPC. More information is available here: weblink.

Reach for the Stars – Optimising Performance in Palliative Care Patients

Lunch & Learn session by St Margaret of Scotland Hospice, Clydebank. 11 September 2018. To book a place please contact Margaret Donnelly.

Oncology: Challenges and changing outcomes

21 September 2018, Organised by RCPE. More information is available here: weblink.

Challenge or Conform: Finding Consensus in an Evolving Specialty

Organised by Strathcarron Hospice. 27 and 28 September 2018, Edinburgh. More information is available here: weblink.

Reducing & Managing Pressure Ulcers at the End of Life

12 October 2018, London. Orgabised by Healthcare Conferences UK. More information is available here: weblink.

Spiritual Care Conference: Can Spiritual Care Support Realistic Medicine in Practice?

25 October, Airdrie. Organised by St Andrew's Hospice. For more information, call St Andrew's Hospice: 01236 766 951

Palliative Care: Shifting the Paradigm

International Seminar of EAPC RN and the EAPC Reference Group on Public Health and Palliative Care. 25 - 26 October 2018, Brussels. More information is available here: weblink.

Save the date: The Malcolm Goldsmith Lecture 2018: Rev Canon Dr Joseph John Morrow

Organised by Faith in Older People, 8 November 2018.

Choices when living and dying with a terminal condition - what is the reality?

Organised by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow, 9 November 2018. More information is available here: weblink.

National Conference: Diversity and Inclusion in Bereavement Support

Organised by Child Bereavement UK. 15 November 2018, Manchester. More information is available here: weblink.

St Margaret of Scotland Hospice courses

A full list of courses delivered by St Margaret of Scotland Hospice is available on their website.

St Columba’s Hospice in collaboration with Queen Margaret University provide two programmes of study:

The Graduate Certificate in Palliative Care

The Graduate Certificate in Palliative Care programme consists of four 20 Scottish Credit and Qualification Framework (SCQF) credit (degree) level 9 modules. These modules can be taken by students with or without a degree and are relevant to health and social care professionals working in adult, children or neonatal services, in either hospital, community, care home or hospice settings.

The MSc in Person-centred Practice (Palliative Care)

The MSc in Person-centred Practice (Palliative Care), SCQF level 11, is designed for experienced practitioners from all disciplines involved in the care of patients with advanced progressive disease and their family. The programme of study is relevant to health and social care professionals working in adult, children or neonatal services, in either hospital, community, care home or hospice settings.

More information and details on the modules which are running 2018/19 and how to apply is available here: weblink, or by contacting Sue Thorburn on 0131 551 7710 . To discuss your learning need/mode of study contact Janice Logan - Programme Leader/Lecturer in Palliative Care.

Postgraduate Diploma Person-centred Practice (Palliative Care – Advancing Clinical Practice)

This is a postgraduate, modular pathway of studies at level 11 in the Scottish Credit and Qualification Framework (SCQF 2017). The pathway sits within the MSc Person-centred Practice (Palliative Care) programme and is run in partnership between St Columba's Hospice, Edinburgh and Queen Margaret University. Apply to Admissions, or for further information contact Janice Logan, tel: 0131 551 7710.

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