| Patients who depend on palliative care services in Scotland are to be given more choice and control over their care and how that care is delivered at critical times.
One of the key aims of the national action plan, Living and Dying Well, launched today, is to support people who choose to be cared for at home at the end of their life with round-the-clock community nursing and home care services.
By next March every health board in Scotland will be expected to have developed a plan, ensuring the aims and action points of Living and Dying Well are delivered locally.
In Tayside, ground-breaking work to improve palliative care services was started over two years ago by the Marie Curie Delivering Choice project, which sought to identify and plug the gaps in services for terminally ill people. The work of that project has helped inform the Scottish Government’s new action plan.
The intention was to identify good models of care in Tayside that could be rolled out across the rest of Scotland at the end of the three-year project.
Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon announced annual funding of £3 million to support palliative and end of life care as she set out a new direction for palliative care in Scotland. It aims to ensure all patients’ needs are assessed, enabling them to access the 24-hour community nursing and home care services, which would allow them to be cared for at home if they wish.
Building on the essential care already provided by hospices, the action plan will expand provision and choice for every patient.
Ms Sturgeon said, “There will be a single, comprehensive approach for the provision of palliative and end of life care across Scotland. People with any advanced, progressive or incurable illness should receive the best palliative care available, regardless of diagnosis or where they live. Our goal is excellent quality, integrated care — planned and delivered in ways which take full account of the needs and wishes of patients, families and carers.
“While maintaining a focus on the needs of people dying from cancer, I believe it’s essential we strengthen palliative care services across Scotland.
“We must take a broader and more inclusive approach to other areas, such as long-term conditions, frailty and dementia. I am also pleased to announce £3m every year to support care provided through community-based teams. Initiatives set out in our action plan will open up patient’s choices of palliative and end of life care services, and ensure this meets the practical realities of the person’s daily life.” |
