Scotland’s Public Health Minister has said there needs to be a more open conversation about palliative care in the country, and the government "must do better".
The Scottish Government has launched a new public consultation aimed at improving palliative care and reaching the best possible standards.
Members of the public will be asked to share their views on the holistic care approach and a new strategy brought forward by the Scottish Government that is aimed at planning appropriately for Scotland’s ageing population.
The Scottish Government estimates that by 2040 more people will rely on palliative care, and deaths will outnumber births.
Minister for Public Health and Women’s Health, Jenni Minto said that Scotland “has to do better” and that getting the strategy right would help relieve pressure on NHS services in the future.
She said: “Talking more openly about palliative care is the first step to understanding how and when it can benefit us – often at a much earlier stage and for longer than most people realise.
“We want to make sure that everyone who needs it can access well-coordinated, timely and high-quality palliative care along with care around dying and bereavement support.
“This consultation is important as many of us at some point in our lives will need to have conversations with people close to us about serious illness, death and loss. We’re asking the public to share their views with us to help shape our new strategy, because palliative care matters to us all.
“The benefits and value of palliative care to those who need it – including families and carers – as well as its role in reducing NHS pressures, are too often overlooked. With variable access across Scotland, we can – and must – do better.“
The draft strategy has been developed with the Palliative care community and people who have first-hand experience of it.
Palliative care is holistic care that prevents and relieves suffering through the early identification, assessment and management of pain and other problems – whether physical, mental, social or spiritual.
READ MORE:
- Janey Godley receiving end-of-life care after cancer spreads
- We need to be doing everything to enable end-of-life home care
- Campaigners raise concerns over Rape Crisis Scotland school survey
Earlier this week Scottish Liberal Democrat, Liam McArthur MSP said that despite the “very best efforts of palliative care” too many Scots are being left “facing an undignified and sometimes painful death” due to the current laws on assisted dying in the nation.
While laws on assisted dying are still being debated in Scotland, the new consultation on palliative care will aim to deliver for people who need it, a well-coordinated, timely, and high-quality care.
Scottish Government Palliative Care Clinical Lead and Chair of the Palliative Care Strategic Steering Group Dr Kirsty Boyd added: “I have seen first hand how timely, high quality palliative care can really make a difference to people and their families in supporting them to live their life to the full.
“Palliative care focuses on what matters to each adult or child and how we help them live as well as possible for however long that is. What counts when someone is dying is that they are well cared for, comfortable and with the people closest to them wherever they are.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel