Palliative care strategy: Palliative Care Matters for All

Ministerial Foreword

Palliative care matters to us all. Serious illness, dying and bereavement are universal experiences, which we will all face at some point in our lives. When that happens, we all hope that we, and our loved ones, will be well cared for and supported.

I have seen first-hand the huge commitment and dedication across all sectors and partners who work to deliver palliative care in this country, and we have been collaborating closely with them throughout the development of this new strategy. I know that staff and teams in health and social care are doing their best to ensure people have access to palliative care whenever and wherever they need it.

I know how much pressure there is on our NHS and social care system, and that this pressure is growing. Scotland has an ageing population. We are living longer and with more complex needs. By 2040 it is projected that deaths will outnumber births, so planning for rising palliative care population needs is essential. 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.

In Scotland, we still struggle as a society to talk openly about serious illness and death. Societal taboos around dying and stigma, or fears about the withdrawal of treatment, can lead to the marginalisation of palliative care services for adults and children. Many of us – professionals and members of the public – still think palliative care only means care in the last weeks or days of life, when the reality is that some adults and children can benefit from palliative care over many years.

Through this new strategy, we hope to raise the profile of palliative care so that Scotland becomes a place where people and communities can support each other, take action and talk more openly about living well and planning ahead for serious illness, dying and bereavement.

One of the key priorities for the Scottish Government is that our public services are sustainable, person-centred and effective in the delivery of all that is required to support individuals in their communities. By focusing, in this strategy, on deliverable outcomes and actions, we aim to ensure that across the country, adults and children who need palliative care services have equal access to it, and that they, their families, and carers are provided with flexible support based on their individual needs.

All of this is being done within the wider context of a strategic redesign and reform of NHS services and wider health and social care, through the upcoming National Care Service. Timely access to palliative care and person-centred care planning in our hospitals, as well as in the community, can improve people's experiences, help us make better use of unscheduled care services and provide more care at home.

To those who took the time to engage with, and contribute to, this draft strategy throughout its development, I would like to express my heartfelt thanks for all your efforts. I look forward to continuing to work with you as we develop the actions further, in preparation for the publication of the final strategy, and as we work to deliver on them over the coming years.

The Scottish Government cannot deliver the ambitions set out in this strategy alone. We need everyone who plans, funds and delivers palliative care services in Scotland to work together, in partnership with the users of palliative care services, to drive forward the changes that we want to see.

Through the delivery of this strategy – Palliative Care Matters for All – I hope that everyone in Scotland who needs it will receive well-coordinated, timely and high-quality palliative care, care around dying and bereavement support based on what matters most to them at this time in their lives.

Jenni Minto MSP

Minister for Public Health and Women's Health