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Welcome to Update, a monthly round-up of news relevant to palliative care in Scotland, brought to you by the Scottish Partnership for Palliative Care. |
Policy |
Scottish Government Palliative Care Strategy: Palliative Care Matters for All The Scottish Government is consulting on their draft strategy ‘Palliative Care Matters for All’. The consultation will close on 10 January 2025. Details and information on how to respond to the consultation are available here: Draft Strategy Palliative Care Matters for All Letter from the Cabinet Secretary on Scottish Government’s position on Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill The Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care has published a letter setting out Scottish Government’s position on the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill. The letter notes that SG expects costs to be “substantially higher” than set out in the Financial Memorandum, and that “the Bill in its current form is outside the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament”. Read the letter in full here. New Report: Healthcare in Remote & Rural Areas Scottish Parliament’s Health, Social Care and Sports Committee have published a report on their inquiry into healthcare in remote and rural areas. The report includes consideration of palliative and end of life care in remote and rural areas. Read the full report here. Scottish COVID-19 Inquiry The Scottish COVID-19 Inquiry has published a list of the issues it will be investigating. This list provides more detail of what the Inquiry will be looking at under each of the broad headings in its previously agreed Terms of Reference. In respect of palliative care, nine specific topics are listed for investigation under the heading End of Life Care and DNACPR Decisions (see p24). SPPC’s Response: Consultation on Proposed Amendments to the Adults with Incapacity Act SPPC has responded to the consultation on proposed amendments to the Adults with Incapacity Act. You can read about the consultation and proposed changes here. You can read SPPC’s response to the consultation here. SPPC evidence session on the Assisted Dying Bill SPPC has been invited to give oral evidence on the Assisted Dying bill to the Scottish Parliament’s Health, Social Care and Sport Committee. The evidence session will take place on the morning of 19th November. The Committee says that “the session will consider palliative care in Scotland, the potential impact of assisted dying on palliative care, palliative care as a potential driver of assisted dying and the impact of the Bill on palliative care professionals”. |
Practice |
Sharing Scottish Practice The SPPC Palliative Care Poster Parade is an online collection of posters showcasing best practice and new initiatives to improve experiences of living with serious illness, dying and bereavement in Scotland and further afield. All of the posters are available to view on the SPPC website, and each month we’ll highlight a few on our blog. This month we highlight these nine posters... click on the links to view the posters:
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. |
Academic and Research |
Major Scottish Government Funding to Research End of Life Care Scottish Government has announced a programme of engagement with staff, public and other stakeholders to inform how NHS services can be transformed to meet future demands. Alongside this programme of engagement SG has awarded £5m to support 5 research programmes considered to have a high level of impact to address important Scottish population health and/or NHS challenges. St Andrews University will receive £1m to research how to improve unscheduled care for people in the last year of life. It is encouraging that improving end of life care has been recognised as having a significant part to play in addressing the major challenges faced by the NHS. Read more here. Seeking Responses: University of Cambridge Palliative Care Study A Palliative Care study, led by researchers at the University of Cambridge, is seeking members of the public and professionals to help widen understanding in relation to systems for using injectable end-of-life symptom control medications at home. Taking part in the study involves completing the 5-minute anonymous survey, which will provide researchers with an insight of the needs and motivations of different stakeholders involved in the systems for using injectable medicines. Your responses will help inform research and changes in practice. Contribute to the study here. Find out more by watching this short video outlining the study. For more information, contact Binu Perera at bpp24@cam.ac.uk. New Study of Mortality in Scottish Care Homes A new study has been published which aimed to describe patterns and associations with mortality among people moving in to care homes in Scotland. The study concluded that mortality is common in Scotland’s care homes but varies in timing. Dementia is the most common cause. Those moving-in from the hospital are more likely to die sooner, and this evidence provides opportunities to improve support for all involved. Read the study in full here. Time to care: Findings from a nationally representative survey of experiences at the end of life in England and Wales The final report from the Marie Curie Better End of Life programme has been published - a collaboration, funded by Marie Curie, between King’s College London’s Cicely Saunders Institute, Hull York Medical School at the University of Hull, and the University of Cambridge. It reports findings from a national post-bereavement survey, the QUALYCARE survey, conducted in 2023 across England and Wales. The aim is to describe the outcomes, experiences, and use of care services by people affected by dying, death, and bereavement in England and Wales. Read the report in full here. New report on financial hardship at end of life Hospice UK has recently released “It’s a nightmare scenario”: death, dying and financial hardship. The report shares real-world experiences to highlight the needs of people experiencing financial hardship at the end of life, and their loved ones. It sets out recommendations for governments, local health systems and services to improve their experiences. Read the report in full here. |
Public and Patient Perspective |
Marie Curie report: “Public Attitudes to Death, Dying and Bereavement in the UK Re-Visited: 2023 Survey” In 2021, Marie Curie commissioned its first national survey to assess public attitudes to dying, death and bereavement in the UK. This new report is based on a 2023 survey of 10,500 adults across all four UK nations (PADDUK 2023) and further builds on the findings from the first study. It updates previous findings and explores new areas, including: barriers to expressing future healthcare preferences in advance of serious illness; coping with practical tasks; reaching out for support after bereavement; and grief education in schools. Read the report in full here. |
SPPC News |
Last chance to book - Scottish Partnership for Palliative Care Annual Conference The SPPC Annual Conference will take place on Wednesday 6th November 2024 in Edinburgh. For more information, including the programme, speaker profiles, and registration, please visit the conference webpage. To Absent Friends Festival The To Absent Friends festival starts tomorrow, with 70 events taking place across Scotland. Ways of showing support for the festival
If you have questions or would like us to include your To Absent Friends activity in the listings, please email samara@palliativecarescotland.org.uk. Good Life, Good Death, Good Grief conference 2025 - Save the Date The next Good Life, Good Death, Good Grief conference will take place at the Renfield Centre in Glasgow on 26 February 2025. Further details will be announced soon. Good Life, Good Death, Good Grief wins PHPCI Community Building Award SPPC initiative Good Life, Good Death, Good Grief has been awarded the prestigious ‘Community Builders’ award by Public Health Palliative Care International. Despite exceptional applications from 15 other nominees from across four continents, the PHPCI judging panel unanimously chose the Scottish Partnership for Palliative Care as the recipient of the Community Builder Award, commenting: that “the Scottish Partnership for Palliative Care’s initiatives align exceptionally well with the community-building principles of public health palliative care in multiple ways.” Read more here. Scottish Government Palliative Care Strategy: Palliative Care Matters for All To support engagement with the Scottish Government’s consultation on its draft strategy -Palliative Care Matters for All, SPPC will be running a series of workshops at forthcoming meetings of our groups and networks, with a focus on those issues of most interest to each stakeholder group. Each workshop will provide an opportunity for group members to contribute to creating a joint response to the strategy consultation if they wish. If you are not part of any SPPC groups but wish to attend one of these workshops, please contact Pauline@palliativecarescotland.org.uk |
Other News |
Celebrating CDAS at 20 The Centre for Death and Society (CDAS) at the University of Bath are celebrating their 20 year anniversary with a series of events including seminars, lectures and a book launch. More information about the programme of events is available here: Centre for Death & Society Macmillan Education and Training Macmillan have launched a new Self-Directed HOPE programme offered by Hope For the Community CIC, for those who have had, or are living with, a cancer diagnosis. The HOPE programme is a self-management programme, with content to support the development of techniques to manage difficult circumstances and challenges. More information is available here: Online HOPE programme The Cancer Professionals Podcast from Macmillan Cancer Support The next episode of the Cancer Professionals Podcast, Alleviating the side effects; Skin care during cancer treatment (episode sponsored by La Roche Posay) is now available: “We’re joined by Dr. Fiona McCarthy, a medical oncologist, and Rosamund Dean, journalist, author and wellness coach with her own lived experience of cancer. We explore a range of skin-related side effects, from dryness and rashes to sensitivity and irritation.” Available on all podcast apps, or listen online here: The Cancer Professionals Podcast | Macmillan Cancer Support Visit Macmillan’s education and training community to find out more about how to access their education and training resources. |
Courses and Events |
To Absent Friends FestivalInitiated by Good Life, Good Death, Good Grief. 1-7 November across Scotland. A people’s festival of storytelling and remembrance, with 70 events organised by communities and organisations across Scotland. More information is available here: To Absent Friends festival SPPC Annual Conference 2024 - The Space BetweenOrganised by the Scottish Partnership for Palliative Care. 6 November 2024, Edinburgh. For more information, please visit the conference webpage. Training courses from Cruse Scotland Bereavement Support
More information is available here: Cruse Scotland Training Calendar European Grief Conference 2024Organised by the Irish Hospice Foundation with partners Bereavement Network Europe, Danish National Center for Grief and RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences. Dublin, Ireland, 11-13 November 2024. Registration for the conference is now open here. Find out more at the conference website. The 5th Annual International Symposium for the Arts in Palliative Care: Creative Health, Care and DyingOrganised by the St Columba’s Hospice Arts Team. Friday 15th November, 9.30 – 17.00 UK time. In-person at St Columba’s Hospice, Edinburgh, and online. Registration closes on 3 November. Find out more and book your place here. CPD Conference - Mental illness and Palliative care: Care gaps and complexityOrganised by Royal Society of Medicine Palliative Care. Royal Society of Medicine, 1 Wimpole St, London, W1G 0AE, 26 November 2024, 9am - 5pm. For more information and to register, visit the conference website. Hospice UK National Conference 2024Registration is now open for the Hospice UK National Conference 2024, which runs at the SEC in Glasgow from 26th – 28th November. NES Bereavement Conference: “Bereavement in the modern world: Kindness in the chaos”Organised by NHS Education for Scotland’s Bereavement Education Programme. 3 December 2024, online. This virtual international conference is for all those working across health and social care. More information and booking is available here. Coping with Professional Grief WorkshopOrganised by Hospice UK’s Compassionate Employers team as part of National Grief Awareness Week. Tuesday 3 December 2024, online. The practical and interactive workshop is recommended for all professionals working in health and social care, and their managers. Find out more and book your place here. Healthcare Conferences UK CPD Virtual ConferencesOrganised by Healthcare Conferences UK. For dates and times of individual sessions, see below. Readers of this newsletter can receive a 20% discount with the code hcuk20sppc.
RCPE Online Symposium: Palliative MedicineOrganised by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. 22 January 2025, online. For more information and to register, please visit the symposium website. 2025 Marie Curie Research into Practice ConferenceOrganised by Marie Curie. Week commencing Monday 10 February 2025, online. More information on the conference is available here. Save the Date: Good Life, Good Death, Good Grief ConferenceThe next Good Life, Good Death, Good Grief conference will take place at the Renfield Centre in Glasgow on 26 February 2025. Further details to follow in the coming months. Advanced European Bioethics Course: “Suffering, Death and Palliative Care”Organised by the section of Healthcare Ethics, IQ Health, Radboud university medical centre Nijmegen. Nijmegen, the Netherlands, 25-28 March 2025. For more information and to register, please visit the course website at Advanced European bioethics course ‘Suffering, Death and Palliative Care’ - IQ Health. |
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