By Ellie Wagstaff

SCOTLAND’S ageing population means that many more people will need end of life care over the coming decades. The pandemic has given us insight into what increased demand for palliative support could look like, and it’s clear that our services need to be better equipped. But it’s also shown that we have a powerful tool at our disposal: the dedication of our communities.

By 2040, 10,000 more people in Scotland will be dying each year, in need of palliative and end of life care. By then a greater proportion of people will be dying in the community, with two thirds of all deaths expected to take place in people’s homes, care homes and hospices – rather than in hospital.

Support for dying people in communities across Scotland must be reformed if we are to keep up with the growing need. Even today with the current number of deaths, many people aren’t getting the right care. Without decisive action, many more people will die without vital care and support at the end of life.

But over the last few years, communities in Scotland through have gone above and beyond.

At the start of the pandemic, record numbers of people in Scotland lined up to help people in their local communities, many of whom were affected by dying, death and bereavement. They picked up shopping for vulnerable neighbours. They offered a friendly ear for those who were isolating or feeling lonely, or grieving for someone they cared about.

The power of that community resource can’t be understated. It’s a valuable tool that can be used to support dying people not just during the pandemic, but beyond.

But without properly resourced systems in place, all that dedication and compassion will be wasted. That’s why we’re calling for all Scottish local election candidates to harness the resources and compassion of local people by embedding Compassionate Communities in their local areas.

A Compassionate Community is a social movement where local people support others who are affected by dying, death and bereavement. It’s a network of volunteers that works alongside formal services.

For example, a local person might volunteer to do food shopping for a neighbour who can’t leave the house, or provide companionship to someone living alone with a terminal illness. This support can make a huge difference to the person who receives it, while complementing the work of formal palliative care services.

Compassionate Inverclyde was set up in 2017 and quickly evolved from a small local initiative to a wider social movement. A team of 135 volunteers supported their community in all sorts of ways, from offering companionship to people who might have otherwise died alone, to providing boxes of essentials to people leaving hospital, to running awareness sessions at local schools.

Scottish people have shown that they want to help one another, and local councils have a responsibility to ensure that can happen.

We’re asking all Scottish local government election candidates to pledge to leading and embedding Compassionate Communities across their areas in Scotland.

Ellie Wagstaff is Policy & Public Affairs Manager, Marie Curie. Please visit 2022-scottish-local-government-manifesto.pdf (mariecurie.org.uk)