(a)

that Plymouth had been recognised by Public Health Palliative Care International as being the first Compassionate City in England which was a great achievement for the city;

(b)

that despite some real progress made around death and dying it still remained a real taboo subject within our society and one that affects every aspect of people’s lives;

(c)

that there was a real challenge on how we meet those needs around palliative care and that no one in our community should die alone, in distress or in pain.  However it was reported that many patients if not supported by St Luke’s would have died alone;

(d)

it was known that no organisation has the resource or capability to ensure that no one dies alone and feel that it needs a real joined-up approach based on individual organisations working together recognising that loss and bereavement was simply not solely for health and social services but was everybody's responsibility;

(e)

the impact of bereavement on young people in terms of their school life and building the resilience in our younger communities so they can transition through life I'm being able to cope with the impacts that death and loss;

(f)

have been working on developing compassionate workplaces and asking workplaces and businesses to review their compassionate policies and to think about their employee's health and well-being at a time when they’re caring for someone that might be dying or have been bereaved;

(g)

they have developed compassionate cafes and compassionate friends have gone into hubs and social spaces that already exist in Plymouth to help provide a friendly ear to people that might be experiencing bereavement;

(h)

more people were dying within a care home setting and how to recognise the good work taking place in care homes supporting people towards the end of their life;

(i)

about how we encourage more organisations and workplaces to sign up to the End of Life Compassionate City Charter.