Consultation: Proposed Right to Palliative Care
There is still time to respond to the consultation on a proposed Right to Palliative Care (Scotland) Bill.
The proposal, put forward by Miles Briggs MSP, would introduce a private members’ bill that would establish a legal right to palliative care for people of all ages living with terminal illness residing in Scotland and to provide equitable access to the palliative support which is right for them, when and where they need it. The Bill would ensure that palliative and end of life care provision is core to system design, planning, commissioning and delivery.
The consultation is quite short, with just five questions, and it closes on 3rd June.
You can access the consultation by clicking this link.
The following are some key points you may wish to consider when completing the consultation:
- Human persons retain their dignity whatever their physical or psychological condition and are worthy of love and compassion.
- Palliative care is a vital part of end-of-life care, providing compassion, accompaniment and improving quality and life and wellbeing as much as possible.
- Marie Curie research provides that as many as 1 in 4 people at the end of life do not receive the care that they need [More than one person every minute will die with palliative care needs (mariecurie.org.uk)]
- Civic authorities must commit to improvements in palliative care.
- A key consideration in the provision of palliative care should be the delivery of spiritual assistance by a faith leader where requested.
- Contrast this laudable proposal with the current proposal to legalise assisted suicide in Scotland. Rather then being used to kill people, many of whom are vulnerable, public resources should be invested in helping people to live and to be more comfortable at the end of life. Moreover, in some countries where assisted suicide or euthanasia is legal, palliative care has been compromised. [Future Impacts – Care Not Killing Scotland]
