Health and Social Care Service Renewal Framework
The Health and Social Care Service Renewal Framework provides a high-level guide for change, to ensure the sustainability, efficiency, quality, and accessibility of health and social care services in Scotland.
1. Introduction
In June 2024 the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care set out a new vision for health and social care in Scotland:
“A Scotland where people live longer, healthier and more fulfilling lives”
To achieve our vision, we need to focus on improving population health – including mental health – and preventing and reducing inequalities. The vision (see Figure 1) depends on improving prevention and ensuring that health and care services are accessible, high quality, and person-led.
To realise this vision, the Scottish Government has published three interconnected products: an NHS Scotland Operational Improvement Plan (OIP), a Population Health Framework (PHF), and a Health and Social Care Service Renewal Framework (SRF - this document). The OIP describes short-term commitments and actions across NHS Scotland that are needed to improve the experiences of patients. The PHF provides a long-term, cross-government and cross-sector approach to improving health in Scotland.
The SRF sets out the framework within which our system and service leaders, and staff, alongside the wider population, will plan services for the future, building on what we already know works well.
People’s experience and priorities will be key in shaping the future of our health and care services. Over recent years there has been extensive engagement with the public about their experiences of health and care, and they have already told us what matters most to them. We have listened, and we are taking bold steps in this Framework to deliver.
We are publishing the SRF at a point where the fiscal climate is as challenging as it has ever been and with all parts of the health and social care system facing sustainability challenges. Therefore change must be delivered within the existing financial envelope of health and social care.
The financial sustainability of the health and social care system is integral to this Framework, to ensure our resources are used efficiently, effectively and transparently within the context of wider Public Service Reform. The work National and Local Government are undertaking to ensure the viability and sustainability of social care seeks to address these pressures, and close, collaborative work is ongoing. Activity such as this contributes to our vision of a Scotland in which everyone will have access to integrated health and social care services that are efficient, good quality and effective.
The SRF builds on work already underway to fulfil the aims of the Christie Commission, and existing strategies and reform programmes.[7] It will also guide ongoing work on integration of health and social care, which will be a key focus of the new National Care Service (NCS) Advisory Board.
The SRF is designed in line with the principles of Value Based Health and Care. This delivers better outcomes through equitable, sustainable, appropriate and transparent use of resources, delivered through the practice of Realistic Medicine.
The Local Government Best Value themes have also been embedded in our approach to renewal, including: vision and leadership; governance and accountability; effective use of resources; partnerships and collaborative working; working with communities; sustainability; and fairness and equality.