The Herald (Scotland) reports on an attempt to provide that all terminally ill patients would have a right to quality treatment at the end of their life in Scotland.
A new Bill in the Scottish Parliament aims to introduce access to palliative care in all areas of Scotland.
SNP MSP Roseanna Cunningham said yesterday she wants to place a statutory obligation on every health board to provide such care.
She is concerned that while cancer sufferers have access to provision of that kind, only a small minority of people with other life-threatening diseases get palliative care.
Ms Cunningham's member's bill, if accepted by the Scottish Parliament, would enable all patients with a range of conditions to have a choice of care at home, in hospital or a hospice.
As well as cancer sufferers, people with chronic illnesses such as Parkinson's, multiple sclerosis, motor neurone disease, HIV, heart failure and dementia would qualify.
Ms Cunningham said: "Death does not come at the time of our choosing but it does come to us all.
"Surely we all have a right for it to be as dignified and pain-free as possible."
Such efforts are surely welcome when the prevailing opinion is to make suicide easier.
A new Bill in the Scottish Parliament aims to introduce access to palliative care in all areas of Scotland.
SNP MSP Roseanna Cunningham said yesterday she wants to place a statutory obligation on every health board to provide such care.
She is concerned that while cancer sufferers have access to provision of that kind, only a small minority of people with other life-threatening diseases get palliative care.
Ms Cunningham's member's bill, if accepted by the Scottish Parliament, would enable all patients with a range of conditions to have a choice of care at home, in hospital or a hospice.
As well as cancer sufferers, people with chronic illnesses such as Parkinson's, multiple sclerosis, motor neurone disease, HIV, heart failure and dementia would qualify.
Ms Cunningham said: "Death does not come at the time of our choosing but it does come to us all.
"Surely we all have a right for it to be as dignified and pain-free as possible."
Such efforts are surely welcome when the prevailing opinion is to make suicide easier.
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