A shared mission to champion compassionate palliative care has brought two unlikely partners together
World Hospice and Palliative Care Day Parternship Announcement
On World Hospice and Palliative Care Day (10 October) Scottish-based healthcare charity EMMS International and Scottish homecare provider Eidyn Care have announced a new charity partnership focused on supporting palliative care and helping people living with life-limiting illnesses to experience dignity, compassion and quality of life.
The partnership brings together two organisations working in very different settings but united by a shared belief: everyone deserves compassionate, person-centred care, wherever they live and whatever their circumstances.
Eidyn Care is a family-run, multi-award-winning care provider supporting people in their own homes across Edinburgh, Fife, Perth and Kinross. Its services include specialist palliative and end-of-life care, helping people with life-limiting illnesses remain at home while providing support with complex symptoms, emotional needs and everyday life.
EMMS International has been working to strengthen palliative care in some of the world's most underserved communities for many years. One of its most significant palliative care programmes has been the Sunita Project in rural western Nepal, delivered in partnership with the International Nepal Fellowship.
The three-year project has transformed access to palliative care by training healthcare workers and community members, improving access to essential pain-relief medicines and developing palliative care services closer to people's homes. It also supported families caring for loved ones and helped reduce the burden placed on young carers, enabling them to continue their education.
By the end of the project, the Sunita programme had reached more than 84,000 people with compassionate care and support, helping to build stronger networks of care across some of Nepal's most remote communities.
At the heart of both organisations' work is a shared understanding that palliative care is about much more than treating physical pain. It means supporting the whole person – physically, emotionally, socially and spiritually – while also supporting the families around them.
For Eidyn Care, this means helping people to remain in the comfort and familiarity of their own homes for as long as possible. Its specialist palliative care supports people living with life-limiting illnesses, including those experiencing complex symptoms such as pain, nausea and breathlessness, while working alongside other healthcare professionals to provide coordinated care.
For EMMS and its partners in Nepal, the challenge is often ensuring that the same principles of compassionate care are available to people living in remote communities where access to healthcare and pain relief can be extremely limited.
Andrew McLennan, CEO of Eidyn Care, said:
“We are delighted to be partnering with EMMS International. Although our organisations work in very different contexts, our values are remarkably similar. We both believe that people living with a life-limiting illness deserve to be treated with dignity, compassion and respect.
“Our team sees every day how important good palliative care is to individuals and their families. Through this partnership, we hope to contribute to EMMS's work and help shine a light on the importance of palliative care for people around the world.”
The partnership builds on EMMS's growing body of work in palliative care. Alongside Nepal, EMMS works with partners in Malawi to strengthen palliative care services and is supporting the Palliative Care Association of Malawi (PACAM) to improve access to oral morphine for people experiencing severe pain.
Steve McManus, Head of Partnerships at EMMS International, said:
“We are incredibly grateful to Eidyn Care for choosing to partner with EMMS. There is a powerful connection between the care Eidyn provides every day in people's homes in Scotland and the work our partners are doing in communities thousands of miles away.
“The Sunita Project showed what is possible when local healthcare professionals, communities, international partners and supporters come together. It has helped bring compassionate palliative care closer to people living in some of Nepal's most remote communities.
“At its heart, palliative care is about recognising our shared humanity. Whether someone is living in Edinburgh or a remote village in Nepal, they deserve to be treated with dignity, to have their pain managed and to know that they are not alone.’’
The partnership will also provide opportunities for Eidyn Care's staff and wider community to learn more about EMMS's international healthcare programmes and the realities facing people living with serious illness in low-resource settings.
For both organisations, the partnership demonstrates that compassionate care transcends borders.
The same principles that guide a carer supporting someone in their own home in Scotland can help shape the way healthcare is delivered to someone living thousands of miles away: listening, respecting individual wishes, managing pain and symptoms, supporting families and ensuring that nobody has to face serious illness alone.
About Eidyn Care
Eidyn Care is a family-owned and run homecare provider delivering personalised care across Edinburgh, Fife and Perth and Kinross. Its services range from companionship and personal care to complex, palliative and end-of-life care.
Founded by husband-and-wife team Rebecca and Andrew McLellan, Eidyn Care's mission is to enable people to live at home with dignity, while providing peace of mind for them and their families.
Comments