The charity will today urge the Scottish Parliament to make sure everyone who needs palliative care will have access to it by 2020

A major charity will urge the Scottish Parliament to put a clearly defined plan in place to make sure everyone who needs palliative care will have access to it by 2020.

Marie Curie will today tell the health and sport committee’s inquiry into palliative care that it is important that there is a clear commitment and process which will ensure the 10,600 people across Scotland every year who require but are not receiving palliative care do so by five years time.

Richard Meade, Marie Curie head of policy and public affairs in Scotland, who will address the committee, said the charity recommends a three-fold approach.

Marie Curie believes that everyone who needs palliative care should be able to access to it by 2020

This includes healthcare professionals receiving on-going education and training in palliative care, an emphasis being placed on helping the public understand the terms palliative care and terminal illness and the need for robust data to understand what palliative care looks like in Scotland.

“Marie Curie believes that everyone who needs palliative care should be able to access to it by 2020,” Meade said.

“To achieve this we need to support health and social care professionals and to make palliative care everyone’s business.

“One of the biggest challenges is correcting public misconception that palliative care only benefits people who are in the final weeks or days of their lives. We also need to have open and honest conversations about dying and death, as an inevitable and natural part of life.

“This inquiry presents a fantastic opportunity to highlight the challenges facing people in accessing palliative care, as well as exploring how these may be overcome.”