ALLIANCE responds to proposed Right to Palliative Care Bill consultation
- Area of Work: Policy and Research
- Type: News Item
- Published: 4th June 2024
High quality palliative care is a key part of the right to health, and should be available to everyone.
Miles Briggs MSP has lodged a proposal with the Scottish Parliament for a Right to Palliative Care Bill. The Bill would create a definition of palliative care, that would then be used by bodies responsible for delivering health and social care services within their own strategies on palliative care. Everyone with a life shortening or terminal condition would have the right to palliative care.
The proposal recognises that there is currently some uncertainty about the health and social care landscape in Scotland, pending the outcome of the National Care Service Bill. It is important that access to palliative care is improved regardless of the exact structure of services in Scotland, in line with the government’s obligations to deliver on the right to health.
In our response, we:
- Support the principle of a right to palliative care, viewing it as a component of the overall right to health;
- Emphasise the importance of support that goes beyond just managing the direct symptoms and mental health challenges of life shortening and terminal conditions, and supports people to plan for their carers, families and friends after they die;
- Broadly agree that the World Health Organisation definition of palliative care be used as the basis for a legal definition, but with some changes to wording for accessibility and a more positive framing;
- Call for any right to palliative care to be underpinned by an effective complaints process for anyone who feels their rights have been breached, and by robust data gathering to identify gaps and challenges;
- and recommend that palliative care be treated as a positive investment, so that people can spend more time doing the things they love, with the people they love, as they approach the end of their life.
You can read our full response via the resource links below.
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