Healthcare science
Healthcare scientists, also known as our scientific workforce, and the clinical services that they lead encompass over fifty areas of scientific and clinical expertise. These areas span:
- pathology and laboratory services
- physiological sciences
- medical physics
- clinical engineering
- data science
The scientific workforce are involved in all areas of the patient pathway from primary prevention, diagnostics through to rehabilitation services. They impact on 75% of the clinical decisions in the patient journey, contributing to over 80% of all diagnostics.
Healthcare science (HCS) in Scotland has traditionally included include over 50 different specialities, categorised into four different strands:
- bioinformatics and data science
- life science
- physical science and clinical engineering
- physiological science
Professional oversight
The Chief Scientific Officer has various responsibilities including to:
- provide professional leadership for approximately 7,000 healthcare scientists working across the NHS in Scotland
- oversee the strategic direction for all healthcare science services in Scotland and lead on international health issues from an HCS perspective
- develop clinical leadership and professional development within HCS profession to better utilise the scientific profession throughout health and social care services in Scotland
Healthcare science (HCS) in Scotland: defining our strategic approach
We published Healthcare Science in Scotland: defining our strategic approach in March 2024. This set out the vision and ambitions for the profession, and also the key themes in which future work will be undertaken.
Education and training
We carried out a baselining exercise in 2021 to scope the provision of healthcare science education and training in Scotland. This informed the healthcare science education scoping review (2022), which highlighted the requirement for further work to be carried out to address the gaps in HCS education in Scotland.
This work was taken forward by convening a Healthcare Science (HCS) Education subgroup. The group brought together Scottish Government policy officials and Healthcare Science professionals to undertake a review of Healthcare Science educational provision in Scotland.
The aims of the review were to:
- identify gaps in healthcare science education provision
- identify examples of education good practice across healthcare science specialties
- explore potential solutions and further activity to strengthen Healthcare Science education in Scotland
- consider the education recommendations from the Independent Review of Audiology Services in Scotland
The review focused on the current landscape of HCS education in Scotland with a view to identifying immediate improvements and potential further activity which could provide a firm foundation for the future of HCS education and training in Scotland.
More information on healthcare science education and training is on the NHS Education for Scotland website.
Redefining the workforce
In 2025, work will be carried out to strengthen and modernise the identity of the HCS profession. This work will keep with the ambition of raising the visibility and credibility of this essential part of the workforce. This will help ensure that the knowledge and expertise of the HCS workforce is used to its full potential. Efforts will be made to refresh how NHS services in Scotland are delivered to meet the needs of patients across Scotland.
The Genome UK strategy
We announced a new strategic network for genomics: The Scottish Strategic Network for Genomic Medicine in May 2022. This work has engaged with clinicians, academics, industry and the healthcare science workforce to deliver on a genomics health service for Scotland. We have also funded a genomics transformation team in NHS National Services Division to support the network.
We launched our strategy, Genomics in Scotland: building our future, in March 2023. This paper sets out our intention for genomic medicine in Scotland. The Scottish Strategic Network for Genomic Medicine are developing an implementation plan to take forward this work.
The Diagnostics Strategic Network
The Scottish Strategic Network for Diagnostics provides strategic leadership for diagnostics in Scotland. It replaced the Diagnostics in Scotland Steering Group.