This website was designed for health and social care professionals. If you are a patient, relative or carer and are looking for information on end of life or bereavement care, please visit

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About Us

The Support Around Death (SAD) website was first launched by NHS Education for Scotland (NES) in 2015. 

It aims to support the education and training needs of those who work with people who are bereaved in Scotland.

The content is aimed primarily at professionals within health and social care, however, the information and resources may also be applicable to other agencies.

The management of the website is undertaken by the NES Supporting Scottish Grief & Bereavement Care workstream, which also has a remit to develop, create and host bereavement-related educational materials for health and social care professionals. 

To find out more about the work of NHS Education for Scotland, please click here. 

Find out more

To read about our learning resources, training, events and publications:

The SAD website enables users to:

  • Access information and resources on bereavement and care around the time of death

  • Identify opportunities for learning related to bereavement and care around the time of death

  • Learn and share best practice guidelines and research

NES Annual 2025 Conference e-Poster exhibition: Celebrating 10 years of the Bereavement Education Programme

The NES Bereavement team was pleased to have had an abstract accepted for the 2025 NES Annual Conference, which showcased a summary of its achievements over the last decade. 2025 marks 10 years since the Programme was established. 

If you didn’t have a chance to attend the event, you can view the poster below. The NES Bereavement Education Programme is a unique initiative dedicated to improving how health and social care staff support people around times of bereavement. By developing resources, hosting events, and promoting compassionate communication, the Programme continues to make a real difference to individuals, communities, and services across Scotland. 

 

Bereavement Strategic Leads & Coordinators Network

Across NHS Scotland, a Network exists which connects Bereavement Strategic Leads and Coordinators from all regional health boards. It also includes representatives from some special boards.

The Bereavement Education Programme within NHS Education for Scotland helps to support the Network, which is made up of one or two nominated individuals from each organisation.

Through involvement with the network, members can:

  • Share and promote good practice and innovation at local, regional and national levels
  • Advocate on behalf of patients, families and carers
  • Learn about topical issues and policy updates
  • Influence the development of policy, strategy and educational resources
  • Practice peer support and networking e.g., via attendance at network meetings

To find out more about the Bereavement Strategic Leads and Coordinator Network, click the image to the right to watch the video or here to view it on the NHS Education for Scotland Vimeo channel.

A transcript for this video can be found here. 

Annual Reports 

Read more about the activities that NES has undertaken within the Supporting Scottish Grief & Bereavement Care workstream over the last few years. 

NES Bereavement Charter Mark

The NES Bereavement team has recently been awarded the Bereavement Charter

 

 

Thistle Image

The thistle image (right) was developed by NHS Education for Scotland in conjunction with the NHS Board Bereavement Strategic Leads & Coordinators Network. It was originally used by the Scottish Government on their booklet / folder for people who have been bereaved: ‘When Someone Has Died’ and now is being utilised on a wide range of materials in order to identify and promote resources for use around bereavement in Scotland.

Outwith NHSScotland, it was also used to form the basis of a logo for the Bereavement Charter for Children and Adults in Scotland which launched in 2020. More information on the Charter can be found at: https://scottishcare.org/Bereavement/.

NES keeps track of the ongoing use of the image to establish where and how it is being used. We would ask anyone planning to use it to get in touch with us at SupportAroundDeath@nes.scot.nhs.uk to let us know how they plan to use it. 

Any questions?

If you have any questions about the SAD website or the work that NES is leading on bereavement education, please contact SupportAroundDeath@nes.scot.nhs.uk