Health and social care - data strategy 2025 update: easy read

Introduction

Data is facts, figures and information.

A data strategy is a big plan for how data will be used.

Scotland’s first Data Strategy for Health and Social Care was published in February 2023.

It set out the vision and ambitions for using health and social care data to give the people of Scotland the best care possible.

A vision is what we want to see happen.

An ambition is something we want to make happen.

Vision

Use data to support the design of services and how they are put in place.

Ambition

• to give the people of Scotland
  • clear, easy and safe access to their own health and social care data
  • ways to manage and add to it

• to make sure the staff delivering health and social care services have the confidence and ability to get, safely use and share data to:
  • make services better
  • make sure outcomes happen

An outcome is what we want to happen

• to make sure that good data is easy to get for planning, research and innovation – coming up with new and different ideas, products and ways of working

Data must be kept safe and secure and used for the good of everyone including:

• coming up with new and different ways of working
• making care better
• coming up with new treatments using technology - machines, equipment and information that use scientific knowledge

The Strategy sets out:

• the way we want to work
• the work we will do to store, share and use data in better ways in health and social care services

The way the Strategy is planned and carried out is checked by the Health and Social Care Data Board and 2 sub-boards:

• The Data Delivery Sub-board checks:
  • how work on the Strategy is going
  • what work should be done first

• The Data Standards Sub-board works on the data standards for health and social care services

This makes sure that services work better together by using data in the same ways.

This document will:

• show some of our main achievements in 2024 and 2025
• show how the work has:
  • followed the vision and ambition of the Strategy
  • made health and social care services better
• say what is our most important work for 2025 to 2026

More information is in our delivery plan for Digital Health and Care at: www.digihealthcare.scot.