Consultation: Future pandemic PPE supplies in Scotland

The Scottish Government is seeking views on the lessons we should learn from the COVID-19 pandemic, and the proposed new strategic arrangements for pandemic PPE supply in Scotland, specifically public sector collaboration on PPE supply, future stockpiling arrangements, and how to support private and third sector organisations in the event of a future pandemic.

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Sharing current Scottish Practice - SPPC blog

The SPPC Autumn Season 2021 featured an online poster exhibition of 36 posters, sharing work and research underway across Scotland. Each month, our blog focuses on the content of a few of these posters. This month, we focus on:

• Bereavement Charter for Children and Adults in Scotland
• Can I Get a Connection? Taking Namaste Care training online
• Clinical Nurse Specialist Masterclass: A community of practice across Scotland
• Development of a tracking system for staff LFT testing for Covid-19
• Dying in the Cold: Being homeless at the end of life in Scotland

The SPPC blog is a space to share practice currently underway in Scotland. If you have practice you'd like to share, please get in touch.

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Bereavement Journal

Cruse Bereavement Care has relaunched its journal - ‘Bereavement - Journal of grief and responses to death’. The journal aims to improve understanding of grief and the quality of support for bereaved people with open access articles from leading experts.

What matters most to patients and families at end of life: Findings from Quality of Death and Dying Index 2021

The Lien Centre for Palliative Care at Duke-NUS Medical School, commissioned by the Lien Foundation, has produced the Cross Country Comparison of Expert Assessments of the Quality of Death and Dying Index 2021. In this blog on the EAPC website, Professor Eric Finkelstein, explores the process and key findings.

Changes in mortality patterns and place of death during the COVID-19 pandemic: A descriptive analysis of mortality data across four nations

Authors: Sean B O’Donnell, Anna E Bone, Anne M Finucane, Jenny McAleese, Irene J Higginson, Stephen Barclay, Katherine E Sleeman, Fliss EM Murtagh.

This study aims to analyse patterns of mortality including place of death in the UK during the COVID-19 pandemic to date.

Call for Contributions: CDAS Conference 2022

This online conference organised by the University of Bath Centre for Death and Society will take place 9-10 June and explore all elements of institutions and institutional responses to death. If you would like to take part, contributions can be submitted via this online form until Monday 31st January 2022.

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Death of Dr Derek Doyle, Honorary President of SPPC

Dr Derek Doyle died on 21st January 2022 at the Queens Manor Care Home in Edinburgh. Honorary President of the Scottish Partnership for Palliative Care for many years, Dr Doyle was recognised worldwide for the contributions he made to palliative care. He was the first Medical Director of St Columba’s Hospice, the first Chairman of the Association of Palliative Medicine, the founding Editor in Chief of Palliative Medicine and Senior Editor of the first three editions of the Oxford Textbook of Palliative Medicine. St Columba's Hospice have published a tribute to Dr Doyle here: Hospice Tribute to Inspirational Founder. His funeral and thanksgiving service will be held at Warriston Crematorium on 8^th February 2022 at 12.00hrs, with all friends and colleagues welcome. Donations in lieu of flowers may be sent to St Columba’s Hospice.

Did you know Dr Doyle? We’d like to pull together some memories and reflections on his professional life from the palliative care community. If you have any fond memories of Dr Doyle please get in touch: rebecca@palliativecarescotland.org.uk

Change of role

Congratulations to SPPC Chair, Dr Annabel Howell, who has been appointed as the new Clinical Director at Children's Hospices Across Scotland (CHAS). She will start with CHAS in mid-February, leaving her current role at NHS Borders.

New Council Member

We are delighted that Rami Okasha will be joining SPPC’s Council in March. Rami is Chief Executive of CHAS. Before joining CHAS Rami was Executive Director of Strategy and Improvement at the Care Inspectorate.

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Adult disability payment - pilots and information sessions

Adult Disability Payment pilot will be launching in Spring 2022 in three local authority pilot areas Dundee City; Na h-Eileanan Iar (Western Isles) and Perth and Kinross. To ensure stakeholders have the relevant information they need to support clients within these areas and prepare their own services Social Security Scotland will be hosting a series of online stakeholder events to provide information on the key Adult Disability Payment topics, as well as answer any queries.

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SPPC Annual Conference 2022 - change of date

The SPPC Annual Conference has been rescheduled for Monday 30th May 2022. A lot can happen before then, but for now we are looking forward to welcoming you back in person to the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

Supporting primary care teams to talk and be with people who are bereaved or experiencing living grief

Organised by NHS Education Scotland, online. 26 January 2022, 5pm. More information is available here: weblink.

CBUK courses

In February, Child Bereavement UK will run a number of training courses relating to supporting children, young people and families during bereavement, including:

Bereavement by suicide: Supporting children and young people; Supporting bereaved pupils and managing bereavement in schools; Understanding traumatic bereavement in children and young people; Training for doctors: Maintaining wellbeing in working with loss, death and grief; Bereavement awareness in schools - Early years and nursery; Lunch and learn: When a child dies: What families have taught us; Teenagers and bereavement; Pregnancy loss and the death of a baby: Supporting parents; When a child dies: Supporting parents and families; Lunch and learn: Understanding loss, grief and bereavement; Supporting bereaved children and young people; Bereavement awareness in schools - Primary.

More information about these courses is available on their website: weblink

Marie Curie Research Conference 2022: Improving End of Life for All

Organised by Marie Curie. 30 January - 4 February, online. More information is available here: weblink.

Delirium prevention, assessment and effective management

Organised by Healthcare Conferences UK. Online. 9 February 2022. More information is available here: weblink.

Effective non medical prescribing in end of life care

Organised by Healthcare Conferences UK. Online. 9 February 2022. More information is available here: weblink.

Improving end of life care for people with dementia during Covid-19

Organised by Healthcare Conferences UK. Online. On demand. More information is available here: weblink.

UK Launch of Lancet Commission on the Value of Death

1 March 2022, London or online. More information is available here: weblink

Improving Palliative and End of Life Services: Delivering Personalised, Compassionate and Effective Care & Considering the Impact of Assisted Dying

Organised by Public Policy Exchange. Webinar, 22 February 2022. More information is available here: weblink.

Medical Treatment Decisions: Law & Ethics

Organised by Healthcare Conferences UK. 10 March 2022, online. More information is available here: weblink (20% discount with code hcuk20sppc.)

A Practical Guide to Best Practice Symptom Control & Management in End of Life Care

Organised by Healthcare Conferences UK. 10 March 2022, online. More information is available here: weblink (20% discount with code hcuk20sppc.)

Advanced European bioethics course “Suffering, Death and Palliative Care”

Organised by Healthcare Ethics, IQ healthcare, Radboud University Medical centre. Nijmegen, the Netherlands, 22-25 March 2022. More information is available here: weblink.

Reducing & Managing Pressure Ulcers at the End of Life

Organised by Healthcare Conferences UK. 24 March 2022, online. More information is available here: weblink (20% discount with code hcuk20sppc.)

Improving End of Life Care: Improving care and support during Covid-19 & Meeting the End of Life Care Quality Standard Update (Sept 2021)

Organised by Healthcare Conferences UK. 26 April 2022, online. More information is available here: weblink (20% discount with code hcuk20sppc.)

Caldicott Principles & Information Sharing in End of Life Care

Organised by Healthcare Conferences UK, on demand. More information is available here: weblink (20% discount with code hcuk20sppc.)

Palliative Care Conference 2022 - Challenges in end of life care

Organised by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow. Online, 29 April 2022. More information is available here: weblink.

Demystifying Death Week

Participative event initiated by Good Life, Good Death, Good Grief, taking place across Scotland, 2- 6 May. More information is available here: weblink

Malcolm Goldsmith Lecture with Dr Kathryn Mannix and Rt Rev Richard Holloway

Organised by Faith in Older People. 4.30pm, 12 May 2022, on Zoom. Details of how to book will be available in due course.

Music therapy in end-of-life care: Relational and community perspectives

Organised by Queen Margaret and St Columba's Hospice Care. 7 June 2022, Edinburgh. More information is available here: weblink.

Institutions and Death

Organised by the University of Bath Centre for Death and Society. Online, 9-10 June 2022. More information is available here: weblink.

7th Public Health Palliative Care International Conference

Organised by PHPCI. 20-22 September 2022, Bruge, Belgium. More information is available here: weblink.

To Absent Friends, A People's Festival of Storytelling and Remembrance

Participative event initiated by Good LIfe, Good Death, Good Grief. More information is available here: weblink.

2022 NES Bereavement Education Conference

Organised by NHS Education Scotland. Online. Thursday 24^th November 2022. More information will be available in due course.

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