Members' Business — S6M-11352 Sue Webber: Charitable Hospice Care to Meet Future Need

That the Parliament thanks charitable hospices, across both adult and children’s services, for providing vital palliative and end of life care and bereavement support to an estimated 21,000 people in Scotland in 2022-23; commends the care that they deliver, which reaches out into communities and people’s homes, through services such as hospice care at home, supporting not only patients but also their families and loved ones; understands that demand for palliative care is predicted to increase by 20% by 2040, and that the care that people need will be more complex; further understands that around 8,200 people die in poverty every year in Scotland; considers that people impacted by poverty face barriers in accessing hospice care; believes that everyone should have access to hospice care if they require it; considers that hospice care reduces pressure on NHS services by supporting people to stay at home and avoid unnecessary hospital admissions; notes reports that unscheduled care costs the NHS £190 million per year for those in the last year of life; understands that the use of unscheduled care services by those in the last year of life in the most deprived areas of Scotland is almost double that of those in the least deprived areas; welcomes that charitable hospices work in partnership with colleagues in the NHS and across the health and care sector; understands with concern, however, that the impact of matching the recent NHS pay awards, alongside rising running costs, is expected to leave the hospice care sector £16 million in deficit in 2023-24, meaning that hospices may need to make tough decisions about the services that they can provide to patients and families in the future, and notes the belief, therefore, that a new national funding framework for hospice care is vital to ensure the ongoing sustainability of the sector and to allow charitable hospices to continue to support the NHS and provide high-quality palliative care to people in the Lothian region and across Scotland.