Breathless and Terrified: a Bad Death that Shows Why Scotland Must Act on Palliative Care

Breathless and terrified: a bad death that shows why Scotland must act on palliative care

After MSPs reject the Assisted Dying Bill, end-of-life care must be improved to ensure everyone is treated with dignity and compassion in their last days

I'm 18, my mum's in the NHS, and I think the right choice was made on assisted dying

From the calm of island life to the turbulence of Holyrood, I came to believe the assisted dying bill posed risks Scotland wasn’t prepared to…

One in three Scottish people dies with unmet palliative care needs – what that means for assisted dying

By twelve votes, the Scottish parliament rejected the assisted dying for terminally ill adults bill on March 17. The debate that preceded it was emotionally charged and, at moments, genuinely moving. MSPs spoke of parents, partners, faith and fear. Much of it turned on the contents of the bill – safeguards, eligibility criteria and conscience clauses. The structural conditions in which terminally ill people in Scotland actually make decisions re…

'Pressure still on' hospices after assisted dying legislation voted down, says CEO

Bosses at Ardgowan Hospice say ‘long-term’ and ‘sustainable’ funding for palliative care services must be provide after MSPs voted down assisted dying legislation earlier this week.

Scottish parliament votes against legalising assisted dying

(The Guardian) – The Scottish parliament has voted against legalising assisted dying after critics and religious groups led a concerted campaign to block the measures. MSPs voted 69 to 57 to reject the proposals in a late night vote on Tuesday – a larger margin than expected, despite a series of last-minute amendments designed to placate critics of the private member’s bill. The bill’s defeat followed four days of intensive debate at Holyrood la…