Members' Business — S6M-11892 Paul Sweeney: Marie Curie’s Great Daffodil Appeal 2024

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.