24/7 helpline for health staff planned in strategy to improve palliative care

A new helpline is to provide round-the-clock advice and support to health professionals providing palliative care.

The Scottish Government said the move will help ensure the “best possible care is provided” to those in need.

It is one of a range of measures included in a palliative care strategy brought forward by the Government to help those living with life-limiting medical conditions.

Public health minister Jenni Minto said: “We want everyone in Scotland – regardless of age, diagnosis, or location – to have access to timely, high-quality and person-centred palliative care.”

Speaking as she visited the Cornhill Macmillan Centre in Perth, Ms Minto said the strategy is “rooted in the voices of people with experience of palliative care, alongside the expertise of professionals, carers, and the third sector”.

The minister said: “Working in partnership, we hope to ensure that palliative care is compassionate, person-centred, and available to all who need it.”

The strategy document says the 24-hour, seven days a week palliative care helpline “gives people confidence and support whenever they need advice about palliative care or what to do when someone is ill or dying”.

In document also outlines measures to ensure better integration of specialist palliative care into existing hospital and community health services, alongside improved public information, in a bid to help people talk more openly about issues related to death, dying and bereavement.

The Scottish Government has also said a Palliative Care Learning Hub will be launched to help strengthen training and education.

The strategy sets out that one of its core aims is to ensure people of all ages with “life shortening conditions” and their families can “receive palliative care, care around dying and bereavement support based on what matters to them”.

Mark Hazelwood, chief executive of the Scottish Partnership for Palliative Care, said: “The care and support received by people living with serious illness or approaching the end of life matters enormously to everyone at some point.”

He said he hopes the strategy “will deliver a step-change in understanding – that palliative care is not a niche activity but rather a major thread running through the current challenges and opportunities for Scotland’s health and social care system”.

Mr Hazelwood continued: “There is a lot which can, with the right support, be improved.

“We look forward to working closely with Scottish Government and other partners to maximise the strategy’s positive impact.”

Jacki Smart, chairwoman of the Scottish Hospice Leadership Group, said the strategy “rightly recognises the vital role of specialist and community-led palliative care”.

She added: “We are encouraged to see commitments to improved training, public understanding, and better integration across settings.

“As leaders of Scotland’s hospice sector, we hope this marks a turning point – one that brings meaningful improvements to access, equity, and long-term sustainability of palliative and end-of-life care across the country.

“We look forward to working with the Scottish Government, NHS Scotland, and partners to deliver on the ambitions set out in the strategy.”