Good afternoon. The first item of business this afternoon is time for reflection. Our time for reflection leader today is Ms Maria McGill, chief executive of the Children’s Hospice Association Scotland.
Presiding Officer, members of the Scottish Parliament, thank you for the opportunity to address you today.
For all of us, there will be times when the threat of dying intrudes on our lives and expectations. It might be when the doctor diagnoses you with cancer. It might be when your mother starts to show the signs of dementia. It might be when your child is born with a life-shortening condition.
This is children’s hospice week, and the theme is, “Take a moment.”
CHAS is Scotland’s only children’s hospice service, providing vital love, care and support for babies, children and young people with life-shortening conditions across Scotland. Our vision is that every baby, child and young person will have access to palliative care when and where they need it.
CHAS puts the child who needs care and support at the heart of everything that we do. We provide opportunities for fun, play and enjoyment alongside palliative and end-of-life care, understanding their importance even against a background of serious illness and the likelihood of early death. We support a child’s and their family’s choice of life-enriching opportunities and shared experiences, helping the child and his or her siblings to live life to the full, creating treasured memories.
We work with families and other health and social care professionals to develop anticipatory care plans that capture the family’s wishes, hopes and dreams at an early stage and on a regular basis.
We do all of that in a way that is rights based and ensures that the care that we offer is safe, effective and person centred and promotes wellbeing, in line with getting it right for every child and the articles contained in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Our aim is to help families stay connected to their natural and local support networks and to help them maintain and develop positive coping strategies.
However, coping with the death of a child is possibly the hardest thing that a parent will ever have to do. CHAS helps families find to a way through the grief and stays beside them every step of the way while they make their difficult journey.
A mum said to me recently:
“Just the three of us sitting on the couch, with no noises or wires stuck all over her little body, just one tube in her nose. Julianne felt like ours for the very first time. It was like being home.”
Please take a moment to think of these families.