Guideline schedule | Scottish Palliative Care Guidelines

Guideline	Latest Update	*Status (Current, Use with caution, Archived)
Alfentanil	Update 2026	Current
Allergic reaction to opioid	New 2025	Current
Anorexia/Cachexia	Partial update 2019	Current
Anticipatory prescribing	Fully revised 2019	Current
Bleeding	Partial update 2019	Current
Bowel obstruction	Partial update 2019	Current
Breathlessness	Fully revised 2025	Current
Buccal midazolam	Partial update 2019	Current
Buprenorphine patches	Partial update 2019	Current
Cancer-induced bone pain	New 2026	Current
Care in the last days of life	Partial update 2019, 2024	Current Update to mouth care added November 2024
Choosing and changing opioids	Fully revised 2019	Current
Clonazepam	New 2019	Current
Constipation	Fully revised 2025	Current
Cough	Partial update 2019	Current
Delirium	Partial update 2019	Scoping for update. Publication due 2025.
Depression	Partial update 2019	Current
Dexamethasone	New 2019	Current
Diabetes	Added 2024	Current. Owned and updated by Diabetes UK
Diarrhoea	Partial update 2019	Current
End stage liver disease	New 2019	Current
Fentanyl buccal	Partial update 2019	Current
Fentanyl nasal spray	Partial update 2019	Current
Fentanyl patches	Fully revised 2019	Current
Fentanyl sublingual	Partial update 2019	Current
Furosemide by continuous subcutaneous infusion	New 2026	Current
Good practice guideline: Social work	New 2025	Current
Good practice guideline: Spiritual care	New 2024	Current
Hiccup	Partial update 2019	Current
Hydromorphone	New 2019	Current
Hypercalcaemia	Partial update 2019	Current
Ketamine	Partial update 2019	Current
Last days of life: severe agitation, delirium or distress		In development, due for publication July 2026
Learning disabilities		In development, due for publication August 2026
Levetiracetam (subcutaneous infusion)	New 2019	Current
Levomepromazine	Fully revised 2019	Current
Lidocaine plaster	Partial update 2019	Current
Life-threatening opioid induced respiratory depression requiring naloxone	New 2026	Current
Malignant spinal cord compression	Fully revised 2025	Current
Medicine information	Partial update 2024	Current
Methadone	Partial update 2019	Current
Methylnaltrexone	Partial update 2019	Current
Midazolam	New 2019	Current
Morphine	Fully revised 2019	Current
Mouth care	Fully revised 2019 Partial update 2024	Current Partial update to Care in the last days of life and Dry mouth added November 2024
Nausea and vomiting	Fully revised 2025	Current
Naloxone	Removed July 2026	Replaced by Life-threatening opioid induced respiratory depression requiring naloxone
Neuropathic pain	Fully revised 2019	Current
Octreotide	Partial update 2019	Current
Opioid toxicity in palliative care	New 2026	Current
Out of hours handover	Partial update 2019	Update in progress. Due for publication July 2026
Oxycodone	Partial update 2019	Current
Pain assessment	Partial update 2019	Current
Pain assessment – cognitive impairment	Partial update 2019	Current
Pain management	Partial update 2019	Current
Patient information leaflets	Partial update 2024	Current
Phenobarbital	Partial update 2019	Current
Pregnancy and breastfeeding	Added 2024	Current. Direct links to the original sources for updates.
Professional-to-professional handover of care	Added 2026	Current
Proton pump inhibitors - subcutaneous administration	Added 2026	Current
Pruritis	Fully revised 2019	Current
Rapid transfer home in the last days of life	Partial update 2019	Current
Renal disease in the last days of life	Partial update 2019	Current
Seizures	Fully revised 2019	Current
Severe uncontrolled distress	Partial update 2019	Current
Subcutaneous fluids	Fully revised 2019	Current
Subcutaneous clonidine in palliative care	Added 2026	Current
Subcutaneous NSAIDs in palliative care - diclofenac	Added 2026	Current
Subcutaneous NSAIDs in palliative care - ketorolac	Added 2026	Current
Subcutaneous NSAIDs in palliative care - parecoxib	Added 2026	Current
Substance use disorder	Revised 2025	Current
Superior vena cava obstruction	Partial update 2019	Current
Sweating	Partial update 2019	Current
Syringe pumps	Fully revised 2024	Current
Weakness/ fatigue	Partial update 2019	Current

*Guidelines marked Use with caution were updated more than 7 years ago

**Archived guidelines are over 10 years old