Amendments to the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill

MSPs can currently submit “amendments” (changes) to the Bill. Daily lists of amendments are being published on the Scottish Parliament website. A Marshalled List of amendments (arranged in order of appearance in the Bill) and Groupings List of amendments (organised by theme) will be published following the deadline for amendments (29 October). The Health, Social Care and Sport Committee will begin considering amendments to the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill on 4th November.

SPPC has worked with Bob Doris MSP to develop amendments which aim to reflect the views of our members and other stakeholders.  Most of these amendments have now been published on the Parliament website and can be read here. In summary these amendments aim to make the following changes to the Bill: add a 6-month prognostic horizon to the eligibility criteria for AD; strengthen the definition of coercion and the process by which it is identified, including social work assessment; require a specialist palliative care assessment when a person starts the process to request AD; require the elicitation and documentation of a person’s reasons for requesting AD; require the development of regulations for the management of cases of failed/protracted dying during AD; reduce the discretion of the Co-ordinating Medical Practitioner to decide the information they provide to someone requesting AD, and the specialist opinions they seek during assessment; require the production of a report documenting the evidence gathered and used to inform the decision on whether AD may take place; and require regulations on how the provision of AD will be scrutinised and regulated, including mechanisms for raising concerns. 

Two further amendments are awaiting a decision by the Convenor of the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee as to whether they will be considered. These amendments would require that a person’s identified palliative care needs be met, following the specialist palliative care assessment.

SPPC is aware that other palliative care organisations are also supporting amendments on similar topics and also covering areas of importance not covered by SPPC amendments.

The Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care has written to the Convenor of the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee. The letter says that SG will not submit any amendments at Stage 2 of the process, but that the Scottish Government is publishing a rolling critique of everyone else’s amendments which can be read here.  The letter concludes by stating that SG remains “deeply concerned about the financial implications of the Bill” and that “the financial memorandum provided by the member-in-charge significantly underestimates the costs associated with implementation”. The letter says that SG and NHS Scotland are required to deliver a balanced budget and that the reprioritisation of resources required to deliver AD “would inevitably have implications for other services”.

Housing (Scotland) Bill amendments

Scottish Parliament has passed a new Housing (Scotland) Bill that will mean that:

• Eviction Protections: Courts and First-Tier Tribunals must actively consider the impact of terminal illness on tenants, their households, and landlords before proceeding with eviction.
• Succession Rights: The qualifying residence period for succession of a social tenancy is reduced from 12 months to 6 months , making it easier for surviving household members to retain their homes.
• Extended Occupancy Period: Joint tenants who qualify to succeed a Scottish Secure Tenancy after the death of a tenant can remain in the property for up to 6 months, up from the previous 3-month limit.

These legislative amendments follow extensive efforts by Marie Curie which included highlighting findings of the University of Glasgow Dying in the Margins research study.

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Urgent - BodyGuard Alert

BD BodyComm version 3.3 software used for BodyGuard infusion pumps, BodyGuard-T and T34 syringe drivers will be affected by the upcoming transition to Windows 11.

The BodyComm software currently uses Windows 10. Microsoft is transitioning to Windows 11 from 14 October 2025 which requires an updated cable to connect the pumps to the BodyComm software. These cables may not be available until after the Windows transition date.

BD have issued a customer letter advising that all impacted customers should take effective action to allow for continuous use of the BD BodyComm 3.3 software. You can find out more here.

Sharing Current Scottish Practice

The Poster Exhibition at the SPPC Annual Conference 2024 showcased 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 six posters... click on the links to view the posters:

• The Impact of Advance Care Planning on Quality of Life, Quality of Care, and Quality of Death for Older
• People in Palliative and End-of-Life Care: A Qualitative Study in Northern Thailand
• The longest day? Prescribing in the last 24 hours of life
• The use of a Symptom Control Observation Chart in a Medicine for the Elderly Ward
• Unreached - the impact of financial insecurity and socioeconomic deprivation on people at the end of life:
  Rural and Island communities in Scotland
• ‘What matters to you?’: barriers to junior doctors exploring patients’ values in admission areas

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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7th All Island Children’s Palliative Care Conference: Abstract submission now open

Abstract submissions are now being accepted for the 7th All Island Children’s Palliative Care Conference, which will take place in the Limerick Strand Hotel on 23-24 April 2026. Full submission guidelines and details are available here. Deadline: Monday, 10 November 2025. 

For queries regarding the conference programme or abstract submission, please contact info@cpcc.ie.

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Palliative Care Education Framework 2025

NHS Education for Scotland is launching the new Palliative Care Education Framework on 4 November 2025. The revised 2025 Framework promotes education and learning in palliative care, including ‘care around dying’. The purpose of this education framework is to support the learning and development needs of the health and social care workforce in Scotland.

Find out more and register here

New Chief Nursing Officer

Professor Aisha Holloway has been appointed as Scotland’s Chief Nursing Officer (CNO) and will take up the role in November.  More information is available here: Professor Aisha Holloway appointed Chief Nursing Officer

New Chief Social Work Adviser

Joanna Macdonald has been appointed as the new National Chief Social Work Adviser (NCSWA) and will begin this role in December 2025.  More information is available here: National Social Work Agency

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SPPC Annual Conference - From System Holes to Whole Systems

There is still time to book your place at this year’s SPPC Annual Conference. The conference will take place in Edinburgh on 12 November 2025 and will explore how different elements of the system can work together more effectively to improve people’s experiences of living with serious illness, dying and bereavement.

View the programme and book your tickets here: From System Holes to Whole System .

SPPC Council

Rami Okasha recently stepped down as Chair of SPPC. Huge thanks to Rami for his time and dedication in recent years.  We’re delighted to welcome Jacki Smart, Chief Executive of ACCORD Hospice as SPPC’s new Chair. We’re also pleased to welcome new Council members Donald Macaskill (Scottish Care), Jenn Rodgers (Children’s Hospices Across Scotland) and Amy Dalrymple (Marie Curie Scotland). A full list of SPPC Council members is available here: Scottish Partnership for Palliative Care | Council

Parliamentary Recognition for Pauline

We are delighted to see that a motion has been lodged in the Scottish Parliament bidding thanks and farewell to our SPPC colleague Pauline Ellison. The motion, proposed by Bob Doris MSP and supported by others, commends Pauline’s many contributions to improving palliative care over the past 22 years.  You can read the full motion here.

To Absent Friends 2025

To Absent Friends, a people’s festival of storytelling and remembrance, takes place across Scotland from 1-7 November.

See the event listings for this year’s festival here.

We have launched several new resources to support people participating in To Absent Friends.

• Creative Workshops for Remembrance - four templates for group activities.
• To Absent Friends Suppers - A Guide
• To Absent Friends: Practical Ideas for Events

We also have a range of other ideas and resources on our website, including:

• To Absent Friends: Guide to Holding an Event 
• Guide to making a Tribute Wall
• Essence of a Memory photo exhibition 

If you have an event you’d like to add to the listing, please get in touch: samara@palliativecarescotland.org.uk 

Follow us on social media

For updates on SPPC and Good Life, Good Death, Good Grief work, follow us on Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.

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End of Life Aid Skills for Everyone

End of Life Aid Skills for Everyone (EASE) is a free course for members of the public in Scotland who want to be better equipped to help friends or family who are caring, dying, or grieving. Upcoming face-to-face EASE courses for Autumn 2025 include:

• Aberdeen - November
• Moray - November

To enquire about participating in one of the above courses, please email samara@palliativecarescotland.org.uk.

To join the waiting list for future courses, please sign up here.

To Absent Friends: A People’s Festival of Storytelling and Remembrance

Initiated by Good Life, Good Death, Good Grief. 1-7 November 2025 across Scotland. Find out more here: To Absent Friends

Palliative Care Education Framework 2025 Launch

Organised by NHS Education for Scotland. 4 November 2025, 14:00 to 15:00, online via Teams.

Find out more and register here.

NES Bereavement Education Conference 2025 - Bereavement as a Kaleidoscope: An Inclusive Approach For All

Organised by NHS Education for Scotland. 11 November 2025, online.

Find out more and register here.

SPPC Annual Conference - From System Holes to Whole System

Organised by SPPC, 12 November 2025 at the John McIntyre Conference Centre, Edinburgh. 

Find out more and register here.

Masterclass in Palliative Care

Organised by OxCERPC. 14 November 2025, 09.00-16.30, Strathcarron Hospice. 

Find out more and register here.

The 6th International Symposium for the Arts in Palliative Care: Living, dying and the arts: Whose story, whose voice?

Organised by St Columba’s Hospice Care in collaboration with Queen Margaret University. Friday 14 November 2025, Hybrid event.

For more information and to register your place, please visit the symposium webpage here.

Film launch: “In their own words: Grieving young people”

Organised by Richmond’s Hope. Saturday, November 15 · 2 - 4pm. Norton Park Business and Conference Centre, 57 Albion Road Edinburgh EH7 5QY.

Find out more and register here.

MAIN Webinar: Utility of Arts Based Methodologies in Palliative Care

Organised by MAIN. Tuesday 18 November, 13:00 - 14:15, online via Teams.

Find out more and register here.

21st Kidney Supportive Care Meeting

18-19 November, Manchester. Register here.

No Barriers Here Facilitator Training – Scotland

Organised by Marie Curie UK, Good Life, Good Death, Good Grief and The Mary Stevens Hospice. Monday 24 November 2025, Great Michael House, 14 Links Place, Edinburgh, EH6 7EZ

To register or for further information, please visit: https://www.nobarriershere.org/facilitator-training/training-events/.

Opening Conversations On Assisted Dying, Death and Grief

Organised by University of the West of Scotland and Open University in Scotland. Tuesday 25 November 2025, 16:45 - 19:00, Dumfries Campus - University of the West of Scotland (UWS), Bankend Road Dumfries DG1 4FD. Register here.

GIRES Being Ready Training 

Organised by Gender Identity Research & Education Society (GIRES). 27 November 2025. Online or in-person, Colchester. 

More information is available here: weblink

Cairdeas Gathering 2025

A hybrid meeting with Cairdeas partners from India, Sudan, Uganda and Gaza. Kirkintilloch Baptist Church, 3-5pm, 29 November 2025.  Sign up to attend online here:  Meeting Registration - Zoom

The Scottish Government’s new long-term conditions framework: demand, delivery and making it work

Organised by Mackay Hannah. Tuesday 9th December, online. 

Find out more and register here.

The Bristol Centre for Grief Research and Engagement seminar series for 2025-26

• Equitable bereavement care for all ethnicities: Learning from a national NIHR funded study
  Dr Sabrina Bajwah, Clinical Reader, King’s College London;
  Dr Catriona Mayland, Senior Clinical Lecturer, University of Sheffield 
  20^th November 2025, 1-2pm. Register here
• The art of grief: Creativity, loss & the imagination
  Dr Lesel Dawson, Associate Professor in Literature & Culture, University of Bristol 
  15th January 2026, 1-2pm. Register here.
• Voicing loss: Expectations & experiences of coroners’ inquests
  Professor Jessica Jacobson, Professor of Criminal Justice, Birkbeck, University of London 
  3^rd March 2026, 1-2pm. Register here.
• Understanding & optimising the benefits of bereavement support
  Dr Emily Harrop, Marie Curie Senior Research Fellow, Cardiff University 
  6th May 2026, 1-2pm. Register here.

Healthcare Conferences UK: Professional Development Conferences & Masterclasses

Organised 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.

• Patient Safety in Hospices Thursday 13^th November 2025, online. For further information and to book your place visit here or email aman@hc-uk.org.uk.
• Improving End of Life Care for people with Cardiovascular Disease & Heart Failure Wednesday 3^rd December 2025, online. For further information and to book your place visit here or email aman@hc-uk.org.uk.

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, 24-27 March 2026.  More information is available here: Advanced European bioethics course ‘Suffering, Death and Palliative Care’ - IQ Health 

7th All Island Children’s Palliative Care Conference

23-24 April 2026 at the Limerick Strand Hotel. Abstract submissions are now open.

Find out more, see abstract submission guidelines, and register here.

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