Urgent need for system reform in future care planning, access to palliative care and care coordination

Improving access to palliative care for all who need it has been a Scottish Government priority since 2008 that continues. Significant systemic barriers to realising this aim are well recognised across UK and in international health and care systems.1 2 They include inadequate and/or late identification of people with palliative needs, fragmented and poorly coordinated services, and inequitable and variable resource distribution.3–6 These barriers all risk exacerbating unmet needs and poor experiences and outcomes for people with life-shortening conditions and those that care for them.