We need bold action to drive urgent reforms – investing in palliative care to meet rising demand, expanding community-based services, and reducing avoidable hospital admissionsHelen Malo, Hospice UK<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
This, the strategy said, would give \u201cpeople confidence and support whenever they need advice about palliative care or what to do when someone is ill or dying\u201d.<\/p>\n
It also promises better integration of specialist palliative care into existing hospital and community health services, and to improve public information on palliative care in a bid to help people talk more openly about issues related to death, dying and bereavement.<\/p>\n
The strategy sets out that one of its core aims is to ensure people of all ages with \u201clife-shortening conditions\u201d and their families can \u201creceive palliative care, care around dying and bereavement support based on what matters to them\u201d.<\/p>\n
The Government has also said a Palliative Care Learning Hub will be launched to help strengthen training and education.<\/p>\n
But Ms Malo said: \u201cWe need bold action to drive urgent reforms \u2013 investing in palliative care to meet rising demand, expanding community-based services, and reducing avoidable hospital admissions.<\/p>\n
She said the Government \u201cmust also deliver on its previous promises of long-term, sustainable funding for hospices, including full parity with NHS pay for hospice staff\u201d.<\/p>\n
The new strategy was launched by public health minister Jenni Minto (Jane Barlow\/PA)<\/p>\n
Ms Malo added: \u201cThis strategy marks a turning point, but more is needed to make sure everyone in Scotland can access the best possible care at the end of life.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jacki Smart, chairwoman of the Scottish Hospice Leadership Group, also said she hopes the strategy will be a \u201cturning point\u201d which \u201cbrings meaningful improvements to access, equity, and long-term sustainability of palliative and end-of-life care across the country\u201d.<\/p>\n
She added: \u201cWe are encouraged to see commitments to improved training, public understanding, and better integration across settings.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mark Hazelwood, chief executive of the Scottish Partnership for Palliative Care, said he hopes the strategy \u201cwill deliver a step-change in understanding \u2013 that palliative care is not a niche activity but rather a major thread running through the current challenges and opportunities for Scotland\u2019s health and social care system\u201d.<\/p>\n
He continued: \u201cThere is a lot which can, with the right support, be improved.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe look forward to working closely with Scottish Government and other partners to maximise the strategy\u2019s positive impact.\u201d<\/p>\n
Public health minister Jenni Minto said: \u201cWe want everyone in Scotland \u2013 regardless of age, diagnosis, or location \u2013 to have access to timely, high-quality and person-centred palliative care.\u201d<\/p>\n
Speaking as she visited the Cornhill Macmillan Centre in Perth, Ms Minto said the strategy is \u201crooted in the voices of people with experience of palliative care, alongside the expertise of professionals, carers, and the third sector\u201d.<\/p>\n
The minister said: \u201cWorking in partnership, we hope to ensure that palliative care is compassionate, person-centred, and available to all who need it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Palliative care in Scotland requires \u201ctransformation, not tweaks\u201d, ministers have been told as they launched a strategy aimed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":414746,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8816],"tags":[748,1102,4884,712,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-414745","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-edinburgh","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-edinburgh","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-scotland","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115183441923968071","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/414745","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=414745"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/414745\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/414746"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=414745"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=414745"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=414745"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}