Projected Palliative Care Need by 2040

That the Parliament welcomes the new research by Marie Curie, the University of Edinburgh, King's College London and Public Health Scotland, How many people will need palliative care in Scotland by 2040? A mixed-method study of projected palliative need and recommendations for service delivery; commends this as the first study to project future palliative care needs in Scotland; notes its key findings that by 2040 palliative care need in Scotland is projected to increase by up to 20%, with up to 95% of all people who die potentially requiring palliative care, meaning an additional 10,609 people will be dying with palliative care needs every year; further notes that the greatest increase in palliative care needs by 2040 will be in people aged over 85 and that the number of people dying from dementia is expected to rise by 185% by 2040; acknowledges the study’s conclusions that more sustained funding for community palliative care services is required to meet this increased need; further acknowledges the study’s recommendations and Marie Curie’s calls for the roll-out of the National Digital Platform to better facilitate co-ordination of care between palliative care providers, and the introduction of a new palliative care strategy implemented by a new National Clinical Lead for Scotland to make care of terminally ill people and those at the end of life a much higher priority; notes the study's recommendation  for a review of palliative care models to reflect increasing rates of multimorbidities, a substantial increase in over 85s in need of palliative care and in the need for specific-care for dementia; further notes calls for investment in community based palliative care, including support for care homes, and investment in, and upskilling of, health and social care teams through training in palliative and end-of-life care and support with anticipatory care planning; urges the Scottish Government to consider these recommendations, and commends Marie Curie, the University of Edinburgh, King's College London and Public Health Scotland for their ongoing commitment to palliative care research to ensure terminally ill people get the palliative care support they need.