Assisted Dying Bill (Scotland) – developments on conscientious objection and medicines to be used

The Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care has written to the Convener of the Health Social Care and Sport Committee about two topics in the current Bill which are outwith the scope (“competence”) of what the Scottish Parliament can legislate on:

• medicines regulation (specifically in the Bill the use of substances to end someone’s life)
• regulation of healthcare professionals / employment protection (specifically in the Bill conscientious objection).   

The two issues are being dealt with in different ways, both of which require a decision by Westminster to extend powers to the Scottish Parliament.  More information about this and other updates on the Assisted Dying Bill are available here: Assisted Dying Bill - latest update 

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The Macmillan–Scottish ambulance partnership: driving change in end-of-life care

A newly-published study evaluates the impact of a 3-year partnership between Macmillan Cancer Support and the Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS), launched in 2022, to strengthen community-based palliative care and establish alternative referral pathways. The initiative offers a scalable model to enhance patient-centred, community-based palliative and end-of-life care, aligned with patient preferences.

Read the study in full here.

Delayed Discharges: A Symptom of the Challenges Facing Health and Social Care

Audit Scotland have published a report on delayed discharges in 2024/2025. The report includes recommendations for Scottish Government, NHS Scotland, COSLA, Healthcare Improvement Scotland, integration authorities and their partner NHS boards and 
councils, and Public Health Scotland.

Read the report in full here.

Sharing current Scottish practice

The Poster Exhibition at the SPPC Annual Conference 2025 showcased best practice and new initiatives to improve experiences of living with serious illness, dying and bereavement in Scotland and further afield.

Most 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:

• Prescriptions of naloxone for patients on new or titrating methadone in the hospice inpatient setting
• Specialist Palliative Care at the Hospital Front Door- Impact analysis
• From Admission to End-of-Life Care: Communication and Care Planning for Front Door Patients with Advanced Disease
• Coordinated, responsive district nursing in Fife: a critical enabler of palliative care and deaths in homely settings
• Outcomes of Pathway Which Supports SAS Delivery of Palliative and End of Life Care in Tayside
• Why do people with advanced cancer experience unplanned hospitalisation?

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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Survey Invitation: Healthcare professionals’ experiences of Access to Medication for people on Virtual Wards / Hospital at Home services who are in their last year of life (ActMed–VW) 

University of Southampton are inviting registered healthcare professionals to participate in a brief online survey evaluating access to medications for patients in their last year of life cared for by a Virtual Ward or Hospital at Home service. 

Find out more and access the survey here.

Principles for developing, undertaking, and reporting research with minority ethnic populations in palliative and end of life care: A modified Delphi study

Minority ethnic populations face persistent inequities in end-of-life care, yet research often fails to capture these disparities due to methodological limitations. This study’s aim is to develop best practice principles for conducting qualitative and quantitative research on ethnicity in palliative and end of life care.

Find out more and access the study here.

PhD Research on Parental Bereavement During COVID-19

This PhD research study, based at the University of Strathclyde, explores the experiences of families in Scotland who were affected by parental bereavement during the COVID-19 period (2020–2021), with a particular focus on children and young people. The study aims to learn from lived experience in order to improve future bereavement support, community responses, and practice for families facing similar loss.

Find out more here.

Palliative and End of Life Care Group in Cambridge (PELiCam) research updates mailing list

The Palliative and End of Life Care Group in Cambridge (PELiCam) are launching a newsletter to share their latest research on improving end-of-life care and future projects and collaboration opportunities.

Sign up here.

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End-of-life preparedness and emotional suffering in patients and caregivers: Findings from an international cohort study spanning the period before and after death

Preparing for the end of life is believed to help mitigate emotional suffering for both patients and their caregivers. This study uses data from the international iLIVE project to examine how perceived end-of-life preparedness is associated with emotional suffering among patients and their caregivers before and after death.

This study provides multinational evidence that perceived end-of-life preparedness is significantly associated with lower emotional suffering among both patients and caregivers. The findings emphasize the value of integrating end-of-life preparedness into routine palliative care. By addressing both the practical and emotional dimensions of readiness, healthcare professionals may help foster resilience and reduce suffering for patients and their families.

Read the study in full here.

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Save the date: SPPC Annual Conference 2026

The SPPC Annual Conference 2026 will take place on 28 October 2026 at the John McIntyre Conference Centre in Edinburgh. Further details to follow.

Bereavement Charter: Manifesto for the Scottish Parliament Elections 2026

The SPPC has worked as part of the Bereavement Charter Group to produce the Bereavement Charter Manifesto for the Scottish Parliamentary Elections 2026  outlinining steps for the next Scottish Government to improve experiences of bereavement in Scotland.

New resources for workplaces - Bereavement Charter Mark case studies

We have worked with Simba Charity, a ward at St John’s Hospital Livingston, and Media Education to publish case studies of what building a more bereavement-friendly workplace looks like in practice.  You can view the case studies here: New resources for workplaces - Bereavement Charter Mark case studies This was part of our work to support workplaces adopt the Bereavement Charter Mark for Workplaces.

Demystifying Death Week 2026

Demystifying Death Week will take place 4-10 May 2026 across Scotland.

Demystifying Death Week is about giving people knowledge, skills and opportunities to plan and support each other through death, dying, loss and care.

Demystifying Death week is a collaborative effort. Each year all kinds of organisations and individuals organise events for people to discuss death, dying and bereavement. For example death cafes, discussion groups, lectures, film screenings, craft workshops, theatre performances, seminars and information stands. 

Find out more, including how you can get involved, here.

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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Call for contributions - Centre for Death & Society: Annual Conference

The CDAS Conference 2026 on the theme of “Death and Power” will take place online from Wednesday 17 - Friday 19 June 2026.

The call for abstracts on the theme of Death and Power is now open. The closing date for contributions is the 2^nd of February 2026 at 9am GMT.

Full details can be found here.

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Hospice UK Technology Leaders Conference 2026

Organised by Hospice UK. 5 February 2026 at Dynamic Earth, Edinburgh. 

Find out more and book your place here.

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

• 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.

• Caldicott Principles & Information Sharing in End of Life Care, Thursday 29th January 2026, online. Ninth National Conference. To find out more or register, click here or email aman@hc-uk.org.uk.
• A Practical Guide to Effective Non-Medical Prescribing in End of Life Care, Friday 6^th February 2026, online. To find out more or register, click here or email aman@hc-uk.org.uk.
• Controlled Drugs: Ensuring the Safer Management, Diversion & Abuse, Prescribing and Use, Thursday 19^th March 2026, The Studio, Birmingham or online. To find out more or register, click here or email aman@hc-uk.org.uk.

Grief and Bereavement in Primary Care

Organised by Good Grief. Seven webinars over three days, 28 January/11 February/25 February 2026.

Find out more and book your place here.

Conference - Palliative Care: rethinking coping, exploring hope, in the midst of conflict and change

Organised by The Global Health Academy (University of Edinburgh), PallCHASE (Palliative Care in Humanitarian Aid Situations and Emergencies) and Cairdeas International Palliative Care Trust. Saturday 7 February, George Square, Edinburgh. 

Find out more and book your place here.

Marie Curie Research into Practice Conference 2026

Organised by Marie Curie. Monday 23 to Thursday 26 February 2026, online.

Find out more and book your place here.

The Art of Possibility: Creativity and Science in Modern Palliative Care

Organised by the Association for Palliative Medicine of Great Britain and Ireland (APM). 26-27 March 2026.  More information is available here.

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.

EAPC World Congress: Palliative care research - from strong foundations to new horizons

Organised by the European Association for Palliative Care. 14-16 May, Prague, Czech Republic. Find out more here.

CDAS Annual Conference: “Death and Power”

Organised by the Centre for Death & Society. Wednesday 17 - Friday 19 June 2026, online. 

The call for abstracts closes on 2 February. Find out more here.

European Grief Conference 2026: Bereavement, Grief and loss - responding collaboratively to local and global challenges

9-11 September, Porto, Portugal.  More information is available here. 

Save the Date: SPPC Annual Conference

28 October 2026, John McIntyre Conference Centre, Edinburgh. Details to follow.

Save the Date: 2026 Bereavement Education Conference

Organised by NES. Wednesday 11 November 2026, online. Details to follow. 

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