Chamber and committees

As part of work being undertaken to develop the new Palliative Care Strategy, we are gathering and analysing evidence to tell us what actions should be taken to achieve the aim of ensuring that everyone in Scotland receives well-coordinated, timely and high-quality palliative care, care around death, and bereavement support based on their needs and preferences.

We have set up a number of working groups, bringing together stakeholders with expertise in priority areas for action, and these groups are developing recommended actions for inclusion in the strategy for discussion with the Strategy Steering Group (SSG) at its next meeting.

At the September meeting of the SSG there was discussion on the progress of the working groups and work being done to better understand people’s lived experiences of palliative care, as well as the proposed structure and timeline for the Strategy. A minute of the meeting will be available on the SG website, at https://www.gov.scot/groups/palliative-and-end-of-life-care-strategy-steering-group/ , once this has been agreed by the group.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) multiple technology assessment (MTA) final guidance is currently expected to be published on 20 March 2024.

As the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) is partnering with NICE in the assessment of these medicines, the SMC will publish recommendations aligned with the final NICE guidance thereafter for Health Boards in Scotland to consider.

To ensure that people get the financial support that they are entitled to as quickly as possible, adult disability benefit applications from people with a terminal illness in Scotland are fast-tracked. We also ensure that those who are terminally ill automatically receive the highest rates of assistance that they are entitled to, with no award reviews. They are eligible for this support straight away, with no qualifying period.

The new palliative care strategy will seek to understand and respond to the social determinants of people’s experiences towards the end of life, including financial insecurity and housing.

The new Palliative Care Strategy aims to ensure that everyone in Scotland, regardless of location, receives well-coordinated, timely and high-quality palliative care, care around death and bereavement support based on their needs and preferences, including support for families and carers.

We are aware of the importance of ensuring that the Strategy takes account of the differing needs of people living in rural and island areas, and of the particular challenges in these areas. Work is currently being undertaken to understand the lived experiences of users of palliative care services in rural and island settings. We have also asked our working groups, who are feeding into the Strategy, to give particular consideration to the impact that any actions they are recommending may have on rural and island areas.

We recognise the significant impact on people, businesses and communities in areas affected by storm Babet. The Scottish Government is committed to playing its part in helping them through this horrible experience which has destroyed so many people’s property and belongings.

We recognise the significant impact on people, businesses and communities in areas affected by storm Babet. The Scottish Government is committed to playing its part in helping them through this horrible experience which has destroyed so many people’s property and belongings.

The Primary Care Reform and Delivery Budget total was £262,500,000 in 2023-2024.

Reductions, slippage and reprofiling has taken place across a variety of programmes focused on GP workforce, sustainability, rural healthcare, data and digital improvements.

The number of Expansion Posts created in 2023 was not impacted by the reprofiling of the Health Workforce Expansion Posts budget line, as set out in the letter from the Cabinet Secretary for Finance to the Finance and Public Administration Committee of 21 November 2023. The number of postgraduate specialty training expansion posts to be added in 2023 was set by Scottish Ministers in late 2022, on the basis of recommendations from the Scottish Shape of Training Transitions Group.

The Expansion Posts budget line was reprofiled in 2023, following the budget setting process for the 2023-24 financial year. The number of specialty training expansion posts being recruited to was not amended as a result of the reprofiling of this budget line. The budget was reprofiled in accordance with the application of directorate savings targets in the 2023-24 financial year; £3 million was the savings target for Health Workforce, with the saving being applied to the Expansion Posts line for budgeting and accounting purposes. The savings target was applied to this line as historically the forecast budget for Expansion Posts has exceeded actual costs incurred in year.

We are developing a new palliative care strategy to achieve the very highest standards of care right up to the end of life, and to ensure high-quality palliative care wherever and whenever it is needed.

As part of work being undertaken to develop the strategy, we are working with Public Health Scotland to get a better understanding of population-level palliative care needs, now and in the future. This includes consideration of the research that has been carried out by Marie Curie.

As part of work being undertaken to develop the new palliative care strategy, we are working with Public Health Scotland to get a better understanding of population-level palliative care needs now and in the future, both nationally and locally.

We are working with local health and social care partnerships to identify how best we can support a local population based approach to palliative care, so that everyone can access specialist and general palliative care as needed by each person, whatever their illness or condition.