SPPC Response to the Scottish Parliament Health and Sport Committee's Pre-budget Scrutiny

SPPC has responded to some aspects of the Scottish Parliament Health and Sport Committee’s pre-budget scrutiny exercise. This exercise results in a report which is then used to influence the formulation of SG spending proposals while they are still in development.

Read the response in full here.

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Sharing Current Scottish Practice

The SPPC Autumn Season 2022 featured an online poster exhibition of 55 posters, sharing work and research underway across Scotland. Each month, our blog highlights a few of these posters. This month, we're highlighting:

• Scottish Bereavement Friendly Workplaces Toolkit
• Seasons of Change: An opportunity for staff to reflect on loss, grief and bereavement
• Sharing is caring: Ensuring high quality ACP information is accessible to all services to enable person-centred care
• Streamlining Hospital to Hospice IPU Referrals
• Supporting compassionate communities in dying, death and bereavement by providing space for organisations to gather, discuss and learn

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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Public perceptions of advance care planning (ACP) from an international perspective: a scoping review

Anne Canny, Bruce Mason and Kirsty Boyd, of the Primary Palliative Care Research Group at Edinburgh University recently published a scoping review which set out to explore public perceptions of ACP to inform increased public engagement and empowerment.

Read the review in full here.

National End of Life Care and Intelligence Network (NEoLCIN) - Palliative and End of Life Care Profiles (England)

The National End of Life Care and Intelligence Network has published a new factsheet relating to patterns of care in England near the end of life related to four major conditions; cancer, cardiovascular disease, dementia and respiratory disease. It includes experimental statistics describing the number of people who died in 2021, their causes of death, demographic characteristics (age, sex, ethnic group, deprivation quintile), hospital admissions, length of stay in hospital and place of death.  

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Survey Invitation - Marie Curie's Lived Experience of Caring @ Home Survey

Marie Curie is asking people with experience of caring for or supporting someone with end-of-life care needs at home within the last three years to complete this short survey. The survey is open until 17^th September. Support is available to help people to fill out the form and the survey can be provided in a different format if helpful.

The link to the survey can be found here. Please direct any questions about the survey or the results of this research to helen.macgregor@mariecurie.org.uk.

Survey Invitation - Less Survivable Cancers Taskforce – Scotland

The Less Survivable Cancers Taskforce - Scotland have launched a new survey to gain a greater understanding of the experiences of people who have a less survivable cancer (defined as brain, liver, lung, oesophageal, pancreatic, and stomach) and who receive palliative care. The survey aims to provide insights to enable the Taskforce to lobby for improvements to palliative care services, and to highlight any good practice. 

Please email lesssurvivablecancers@principleconsulting.org.uk if you have any questions or would like to meet to discuss further.

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Book now for SPPC Annual Conference 2023

The Scottish Partnership for Palliative Care Annual Conference will take place on Wednesday 22 November 2023 at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, 9 Queen Street, Edinburgh, EH2 1JQ.

Featuring a mix of high quality speakers and delegate interaction the conference will provide an opportunity to:

• Hear about new approaches and practice which offer hope for improvement
• Hear challenging perspectives and energising inspiration
• Catch up with colleagues and make new connections.

Planned topics at the conference include:

• Intensive caring – an evidence-based practical approach to affirming each individual’s intrinsic worth towards the end of life.
• Challenges and opportunities in illuminating and understanding people’s end of life experiences.
• Exploring how palliative care strategies are actually understood, interpreted and implemented in the real world.
• Using video to identify and understand everyday brilliant palliative care, as a starting point for improvement.
• What can we learn from care homes about living well before dying well? 

You can find out more and register here.

SPPC Annual Conference 2023 - Call for Posters

Are you involved in an interesting project or in an area of work that you would like to discuss with or show to other conference attendees? Why not present your work in the poster exhibition which is an essential part of learning and sharing best practice at the Scottish Partnership for Palliative Care Annual Conference. If you are at all interested in presenting a poster please contact Pauline@palliativecarescotland.org.uk for a proposal form for completion. The closing date for submissions is Friday 27 October 2023.

SPPC Annual Conference 2023 - Call for Exhibition Stands / Publication Displays

Once again this year there will be an opportunity to exhibit at the Scottish Partnership for Palliative Care Annual Conference. The exhibitor area at the conference provides generous space for exhibitions and displays with direct access to the catering area, seating, posters and breakout rooms.

If you are interested in bringing along a display stands, please contact Pauline Ellison for a proposal form for completion. Pauline@palliativecarescotland.org.uk The closing date for submissions is Friday 27 October 2023.

Help to Inform SPPC’s Response to the Scottish COVID-19 Inquiry

SPPC is developing a collective submission to the Scottish COVID-19 Inquiry, focussing on palliative and end of life care. The Inquiry is keen to hear people’s responses to 3 key questions:

• What were your experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic? 
• What impact did these experiences have on you or people you know? 
• What lessons do you think should be learned from your experiences?

SPPC is interested in your response to these questions to guide and inform a collective submission. Responses can be sent to mark@palliativecarescotland.org.uk . Responses to SPPC will be treated as confidential.

Alternatively (or additionally) you can submit a response directly to the Inquiry here.

Scottish Compassionate Communities Networking Event

This online networking event, organised by Truacanta: Scotland's Compassionate Commuity Network, is for anyone involved in or interested in learning more about compassionate community activity in Scotland. There will be the chance to share your experiences, reflections, challenges and opportunities with each other.

We will also be launching the final evaluation of the Truacanta Project which ran from 2019 – 2023; we’ll share key learnings, members of the Truacanta communities will share their own reflections on being part of the project, and attendees will have a chance to ask questions. Book a free place here: Truacanta Networking Event or email caroline@palliativecarescotland.org.uk for more information.

To Absent Friends Festival - Photo Competition: Capture the Essence of a Memory

The Essence of a Memory photography competition invites participants to submit a photo and write up to fifty words which together evoke a story or memory of someone important in their life who has died.

Winning entries will form part of a new exhibition to mark the 10th anniversary of the To Absent Friends Festival. The new exhibition will be launched at an evening reception in the Scottish Storytelling Centre on 1 November.

The winner of the adult category will receive £500, and the winner of the children's category will receive £50. The competition is open to people residing in Scotland.

Find out more about the competition and how to enter here: Essence of a Memory Competition.

Legacy to Support Palliative Care in Fife

SPPC recently received a small unexpected legacy for use in Fife. In partnership with PATCH, we have funded the provision of some chair beds to support family carers staying at the Adamson Hospital in Cupar, Fife.

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Macmillan Education and Training for the cancer workforce - Understanding and enriching agency in palliative and end of life care 

Organised by Macmillan. Wednesday 13th September - 12.30 - 1.30pm, online.

Dr Jennifer Corns and Professor Ben Colburn from the University of Glasgow will introduce a new e-learning module that they have developed in collaboration with Macmillan “Understanding and enriching agency in palliative and end of life care”. The webinar will introduce the module, explore the concept of ‘agency’ and the important role that agency plays in alleviating suffering in palliative and end of life care.  More information is available here: weblink.  

Namaste Care Online Training Course Dates for 2023

Organised by Prince & Princess of Wales Hospice and Ayrshire Hospice. 3 October and 7 November 2023, online. More information is available here.

2023 Global Ageing Network Biennial Conference

Organised in partnership with Scottish Care and the National Care Forum. 7-8 September 2023, Glasgow. More information is available at the conference website.

The APM & PCRS Research Course (Autumn 2023): Understanding and Applying Research Methods in Practice

Developed by the APM Research and Ethics Committee and the PCRS Executive Committee. 21 and 28 September online (MS Teams), 12 October in-person (Leeds).

Find out more and register here, and contact admin@pcrs.org.uk with any questions.

Strathcarron Hospice - Frailty and Rehabilitation in Palliative Care Conference

Organised by Strathcarron Hospice. 27-28 September 2023, 9:00am-4:30pm, John McIntyre Conference Centre, Edinburgh. For more information, to register, or to submit your abstract, visit the conference website.

Marymount International Conference: “Reflections & Projections” on Palliative Care and Care of the Older Person 

Organised by Marymount University Hospital and Hospice, 12-13 October 2023, Páirc Uí Chaoimh, Cork. For more information or to register, visit the conference website.

Hospice UK Conference: Thinking Differently

Organised by Hospice UK. 6-8 November, Liverpool. More information is available here: Hospice UK Conference

A Human Rights based approach to Palliative Care: Towards Solutions for Public Health Palliative Care

Organised in partnership with All-Ireland Institute of Hospice and Palliative Care (AIIHPC) and EAPC Reference Group on Public Health and Palliative Care. This 3rd annual International Conference on Public Health Research in Palliative Care will take place in Belfast on 16 and 17 November 2023. More information is available here: website.

SPPC Annual Conference 2023

Organised by the Scottish Partnership for Palliative Care. Wednesday 22 November 2023, Edinburgh College of Physicians. More information and registration is available here.

NHS Education for Scotland's Bereavement Education Conference 2023 - The Grief We Carry

Organised by NHS Education Scotland. Tuesday 28 November 2023, online. You can find out more here or visit the conference website to submit an abstract, view the programme so far, or register. Deadline for registration is 7 November 2023.

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