Improving Palliative Care - Consultation On Reaching Best Possible Standards

3rd October 2024

Views are being sought on a new strategy Palliative Care Matters for All.

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.

An ageing population that is living longer, with more complex needs, means more people will need access to palliative care in the future. The draft strategy has been developed in collaboration with the palliative care community and people who have experience of palliative care.

The aim is to deliver the best possible standards of palliative care for adults and children, families, and carers wherever and whenever it is needed.

Public Health Minister Jenni Minto 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."

Scottish Government Palliative Care Clinical Lead and Chair of the Palliative Care Strategic Steering Group Dr Kirsty Boyd said:

"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."

Palliative Care Strategy: Palliative Care Matters for All - gov.scot https://www.gov.scot/publications/palliative-care-strategy-palliative-care-matters/

Palliative Care Matters for All: strategy consultation - Scottish Government consultations - Citizen Space
https://consult.gov.scot/healthcare-quality-and-improvement/palliative-care-matters-for-all/