All terminally ill patients would have a right to quality treatment at the end of their life under a new bill aiming 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.

"My bill, by placing a statutory duty on NHS boards to provide high-quality palliative care for all on the basis of need, will raise the priority of palliative care provision and give added focus to efforts to achieve that outcome across Scotland.

"While it is important as a legislator to be dispassionate at times, there are other times when it is even more important not to lose sight of the real human stories behind the issues we are debating."

The Scottish Government produced a Palliative Care Action Plan last month, which aims "to ensure that good palliative and end-of-life care is available for all patients and families who need it in a consistent, comprehensive, appropriate and equitable manner across Scotland".

Ms Cunningham said the plan was compatible with her bill, but her proposals would take the issue even further.

A recent report into advanced heart failure showed 100,000 people living with the condition in Scotland last year, with a 70% increase expected by 2010 due to an ageing population. The report highlighted variations in standards and access to palliative care as a significant challenge faced by patients and carers.

Audit Scotland found earlier this year that end-of-life care was focused on cancer patients.

Marie Fallon, professor of palliative medicine at Edinburgh University and a director of the St Margaret of Scotland Hospice at Clydebank, said: "We are essentially looking to provide the conditions for that which could be termed a good death'. That term may seem an odd one to many of us but if you know that death is coming, then it is a very important concept.

"A statutory obligation to provide palliative care will encourage the necessary co-ordination, training, and system design changes, as well as the development of funding streams and reporting methods."

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