Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government recognises the impact bereavement can have on people’s lives and is taking forward work to improve the care available for people experiencing bereavement. However, it is important to recognise bereavement support should be reflective of the circumstances of the individual and their family.

There is therefore a broad spectrum of work underway across Scottish Government to support people who have experienced a bereavement. These include:

• Work across NHS Scotland to improve training and education for staff, patients, families and carers. Led by NHS Education Scotland, education resources and a bespoke “Support Around Death” website for professionals are in place.
• Our Suicide Prevention Action Plan: Every Life Matters, contains an action to develop a Scottish Crisis Care Agreement to help ensure that timely and effective support for those affected by suicide is available across Scotland.
• Promoting bereavement support and information for those affected by pregnancy loss or the death of a baby. We have provided funding to develop the National Bereavement Care Pathway (NBCP), led by Sands UK, in Scotland. Sands UK are working in collaboration with other charities, Royal Colleges and bereaved parents to develop the pathway. There will be five experiences of pregnancy or baby loss included in the NBCP which are miscarriage, termination of pregnancy for fetal anomaly, stillbirth, neonatal death and the sudden unexpected death of an infant.
• The establishment of more efficient and receptive support services around services for bereaved children and young people are being taken forward through the work associated with appointing a childhood bereavement coordinator.
• Taking forward work via the auspices of the Mental Health Strategy, to help ensure that people have good mental health and that agencies act early enough when issues such as grief and bereavement emerge.