Power, Partnership and Perseverance: Building a Better End of Life for Everyone
At Marie Curie, we believe that everyone deserves the best possible care at the end of life, no matter who they are, where they live, or what their circumstances may be.
That is why we are delighted to join this year’s Voluntary Health Scotland Conference. Its theme—Power, Partnership and Perseverance—speaks directly to our work across Scotland.
Power: Putting People and Communities at the Centre
Power is often associated with institutions and decision-makers, but as other bloggers have noted, it also lies within communities and with people whose experiences too often go unheard.
People can face barriers to palliative care because of poverty, isolation, discrimination, diagnosis.
Others may not know what support exists or feel services were not designed with them in mind or are referred too late to benefit.
Through our community engagement, Marie Curie works alongside local organisations, faith groups, carers, volunteers and community leaders to open conversations about dying, death and bereavement. Listening to what matters helps ensure lived experience shapes services and policy.
It’s worth noting that Marie Curie also funds research that deepens understanding of people’s experiences, identifies where inequalities persist and helps build the evidence needed to improve palliative and end-of-life care.
Partnership: Working Together for Change
No organisation can improve end-of-life experiences alone. Partnership is central to Marie Curie’s work—from nursing and hospice services to collaboration with health, social care and community organisations.
Across Scotland, we are building relationships with communities underrepresented in discussions about palliative care. We are still fairly early in this journey and have much to learn. By listening and working together, we can help make support more culturally appropriate, accessible and responsive.
Partnership also strengthens our ability to advocate for change. It enables us to bring together evidence, professional expertise and lived experience to influence decision-making and improve outcomes for people nearing the end of life.
Perseverance: A Right to Palliative Care
Access to palliative care remains unequal. In a difficult fiscal climate, services are stretched and staff do not always receive the training and support they need. Almost one in three people who need palliative care miss out, leaving too many without essential care, information and support.
That is why we are calling for a legislative Right to Palliative Care, underpinned by Minimum Standards so that people and their families know what they can expect: equal access to the care people need, wherever they live and whatever their circumstances, with relief from pain and other symptoms, dignity and fairness at its heart.
Making this a reality will take perseverance and sustained collaboration between government, parliament, health and care services, charities, communities and people with lived experience. It will also require a firm commitment to tackling the inequalities that shape people’s experiences at the end of life.
As we gather at this year’s VHS Conference, we look forward to sharing ideas, learning from others and exploring how together we can turn power into action, partnership into progress and perseverance into lasting change.
If you are at the conference, please visit our stall and share your thoughts on end-of-life care. We will be asking: What is the one change that would help everyone in Scotland get the care and support they need when living with an illness they are likely to die from?
Because everyone deserves the chance to live well until they die.
