This is Petra McMillan and her sister Gwen’s 13th collection for Marie Curie’s annual Great Daffodil Appeal. But it is her new dog Rosie’s first. She says: “No doubt the fur factor helped, we raised over £128 in two hours to help fund free nursing care for a local family facing terminal illness. If anyone has two hours to spare this March, you can help support our wonderful nurses by signing up to volunteer.”
By Bill Heaney
Valeman Bob Doris paid a glowing tribute in the Scottish Parliament on Thursday to the “fantastic work” being done by the Marie Curie charity for the many services it provides for people in terminal care and for their families.
Mr Doris, pictured right, who is the SNP MSP for Maryhill and Springburn, joined a debate arranged by Labour’s Paul Sweeney MSP to mark the launch of the 2024 great daffodil appeal.
The Bonhill man was fulsome in his praise for Marie Curie’s “dedication, care and compassion which make a real difference to those who are living with terminal conditions and are often approaching the end of life, and to their families, which is important. “
A former pupil of St Patrick’s High School in Dumbarton, Mr Doris said: “As convener of the cross-party group on palliative care, I am well aware of the fantastic work that Marie Curie does not only in hospices but through the services that it provides in people’s homes across many local authority areas.
“We are very fortunate in having a dedicated team of fundraisers in Marie Curie. Many volunteers raise much-needed resources for many of the services that it offers. Many of the donations that are received will be from the families and friends of those who are no longer with us, but who benefited greatly from the services of Marie Curie. My heartfelt thanks go to everyone who makes a donation, no matter how large or small.
“The warmth and affection towards Marie Curie sit at the heart of the great daffodil appeal. On 7 May, I will host an event with Marie Curie in the garden lobby of the Scottish Parliament that will celebrate the undoubted success of the great daffodil appeal. I hope to see members at that event.
“Every year, the great daffodil appeal is important in securing much-needed resources. However, this year, it will have never been so important. The financial pressures that our network of hospices is under are significant. It has been challenging for hospices to match the very welcome pay awards that the Scottish Government has made to Scotland’s NHS and agenda for change workforce.
“Finding funds to do so has put particular pressure on reserves and yearly running costs, as have other factors, such as wider inflationary pressures and energy costs. Unfortunately, the Scottish Government and Scotland’s integration joint boards have been unable to respond to those pressures in a way that has been able to fully alleviate or adequately mitigate those pressures.
“I acknowledge the unprecedented pressures on Scotland’s budget, and I anticipate that our hospice network will continue to do a wonderful job in the year ahead, despite those challenges. However, the pressures will not go away, and there needs to be an agreed and sustainable funding model for Marie Curie and the wider hospice network in the years ahead.”
He added: “I very much hope that the new Scottish palliative care strategy will take account of the need for financial sustainability, and I hope that our new national care service will entrench within it the explicit right to palliative care for the people of Scotland and drive adequate funding to the sector accordingly in a fair, equitable and sustainable way. The minister knows that I am keen to work with the Government on that. We have discussed that previously, and I hope that we can continue those discussions.
“From its inception, the hospice sector has always sought to fundraise for a significant portion of the money that it invests in services. It is up for that challenge, and it expects that to be the case. That will not and should not change, but that is different from adequate support from the public sector for financial sustainability. Both things can live together.
“The great daffodil appeal is fundamental to those efforts for Marie Curie. Marie Curie is a vital and valuable partner. With Scotland’s ageing population, by 2040 an additional 10,000 people each year will need palliative and end-of-life support. That will be 60,000 people in total each year at that stage.
“We need to grow the hospice network, and we need to innovate so that there are new models of delivering palliative care. Both those things are required. I know that Marie Curie is up for that challenge because it has done that successfully previously.
“When people support this year’s great daffodil appeal, they are not just supporting those who are approaching the end of life and their loved ones today; they are investing in the future of palliative and end-of-life services for tomorrow.”
Paul Sweeney told parliament: “Marie Curie services take a significant amount of the strain off the national health service, but commissions from health and social care partnerships cover only 40 per cent of their costs.
“As the demand for palliative care increases in Scotland—10,000 more people will require palliative care by 2040, which is a 20 per cent increase on the current figure—funding for health and social care partnerships is actually being cut. Nine out of 10 Scots will need palliative care at the end of their lives, so every citizen has a stake in it.”
His Labour colleague Carol Mochan said: “I am not surprised that he chose Marie Curie’s great daffodil appeal as the subject of his members’ business debate, because we have discussed many times the excellent work of Marie Curie and other hospices.
“He has fought with passion—and he spoke with compassion today—to raise the on-going issue of funding and sustainable resourcing of these essential services. As he mentioned, less than 40 per cent of Marie Curie’s costs are covered by commissioned income, and events such as the appeal are so important.
Conservative Alexander Stewart said: “We need to ensure that Marie Curie nurses will be able to support everyone in Scotland who needs them. We have heard today about the difficulties that we face in funding pay awards and the difficulties due to the cost of living, which is affecting each and every one of us.
“Marie Curie has to raise about £250,000 a week to deliver its incredible work and cover front-line services. The fact that it does so is a major achievement for which it should be commended.”
Labour MSP Carol Mochan added: “I am not surprised that Paul chose Marie Curie’s great daffodil appeal as the subject of his members’ business debate, because we have discussed many times the excellent work of Marie Curie and other hospices.
“He has fought with passion to raise the on-going issue of funding and sustainable resourcing of these essential services.
“As he mentioned, less than 40 per cent of Marie Curie’s costs are covered by commissioned income, and events such as the appeal are so important.”
The motion put by Paul Sweeney was as follows:
That the Parliament welcomes Marie Curie’s Great Daffodil Appeal 2024, which runs throughout March; considers the Great Daffodil Appeal to be Marie Curie’s most prominent awareness-raising appeal; notes that Marie Curie is the largest provider of palliative and end of life care for adults in Scotland; understands that Marie Curie has found that around one in three working age people who die do so in poverty; considers that deprivation and its associated challenges are exacerbated at the end of life; recognises that Marie Curie is able to support people to die at home, if that is their wish, through its Hospice Care at Home team, in 31 out of 32 local authority areas; commends the work of the two Marie Curie Hospices in Edinburgh and Glasgow in providing inpatient care and support for community palliative care; further commends Marie Curie volunteers who, through its companion service, help to tackle isolation and loneliness at the end of life; understands that Marie Curie cared for and supported almost 8,000 people in Scotland in 2022-23 to die in a place of their own choosing; further understands that, despite the best efforts of Marie Curie and other providers of palliative and end of life care, demand for palliative care will increase as Scotland’s ageing population means that by 2040, 60,000 people will die with palliative care needs, which is 10,000 more per year than currently; considers that this rising need for palliative care places a burden on unscheduled care services, reportedly costing the NHS £190 million per year, and unpaid carers, many of whom are ageing or ill themselves, to deliver care and support; further considers that it is likely that many will require more complex palliative care support, as people projected to die with multi-morbidities will reportedly increase by 82%; believes that the current unmet need and growing demand for palliative care will ensure that the care and support from Marie Curie remains an essential service in Scotland; notes the belief that there is a need for a sustainable funding settlement for palliative care, given that less than 40% of Marie Curie costs are covered by commissioned income, and further notes the encouragement for as many people as possible to support the Marie Curie Great Daffodil Appeal in March 2024.