The meeting, attended by more than 40 people, including Michael McMahon MSP, was jointly hosted by Marie Curie Cancer Care and the British Heart Foundation, reflecting the fact that the two most common causes of death in Scotland are cancer (27 per cent) and heart disease (19 per cent).
The panel discussed ways of removing inequalities in the provision of palliative care and allowing people, regardless of where they live or the nature of their illness, to receive access to the help and support they need.
The meeting also explored ways of funding access to 24-hour nursing care.
Currently, 32 per cent of Scots are unaware of any palliative care services and a further 65 per cent would like to see information on these services more widely available. Experts predict that cancer cases will rise 25 per cent over the next ten years, which makes the importance of ensuring that government has a strategic approach to end of life care crucial.
Marie Curie Cancer Care is already raising awareness of this pressing issue through the Scotland Supporting the Choice to Die at Home campaign and the Tayside Delivering Choice project. Susan Munroe, Scottish Caring Services Manager for the charity, gave a thought provoking presentation on the journey that a typical cancer patient would go through and how Marie Curie Cancer Care makes the experience more bearable.
She said: “Our research shows that 75 per cent of Scots would prefer to die at home if terminally ill, but only 25 per cent are likely to achieve their wish.
“We want to tackle the barriers that prevent people from dying at home.”
She went on to express hope that the lessons of best practice, which are being learnt through the Tayside Delivering Choice project, would be rolled out by the Scottish executive throughout the country.
The Deputy Minister, in his summing up, responded positively that the Scottish Executive would be very interested in any early findings from Tayside and the other two project sites in Lincolnshire and Leeds, and would offer financial support to ensure that the findings are distributed to everyone concerned with palliative care in Scotland.
February 2006
