Health and social care - infection prevention and control strategy: vision and priority statements

Foreword by the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Care

I am pleased to introduce Scotland’s first national Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) Strategy, which sets out our approach to reducing preventable infections across health and social care settings. As a strategy spanning both health and social care, it is the first of its kind in Europe.

Against the backdrop of increasing demand to services and significant fiscal pressures, the role of IPC has never been more vital. It remains a cornerstone of our national approach to improving population health, and it is integral to the ambitions for a fairer, healthier nation set out in the Health & Social Care Service Renewal Framework 2025-2035 and Scotland’s Population Health Framework 2025-2035. It is also a sensitive indicator of overall system resilience and can serve as an early signal or ‘canary measure’, highlighting areas where pressure, inconsistency or vulnerability may compromise safety and system resilience.

The Scottish Government is clear that preventing and minimising infections is essential if we are to safeguard the wellbeing of the population and ensure the resilience of our services. Antimicrobial resistance and health and social care associated infections are closely and critically connected: by preventing infections effectively, we reduce the need for antimicrobial prescribing, limit the conditions in which resistance can emerge, and help protect the effectiveness of lifesaving treatments for the future. Strengthening IPC is therefore not only a matter of immediate patient safety but a strategic investment in the long-term sustainability and quality of care across Scotland.

The way care is delivered in Scotland continues to evolve. More services are now provided in people’s homes and communities, supported by the ambitions set out in the NHS Scotland Operational Improvement Plan. As care pathways change, so too do the patterns of infection risk. Increasingly, we are aware of the risk of infections arising outside of hospital settings, underscoring the need for a modern, system-wide approach to prevention and control. This strategy responds directly to that shift.

Our long-term IPC strategy provides a clear direction for the next decade. It sets out our priority areas for sustainable improvement in Scotland. It complements our wider reform agenda and supports our commitment to reducing health inequalities, improving population health and ensuring the long-term sustainability of our services. These priorities are a first step, and over the length of this strategy we will continue to develop, deliver and review actions in partnership with our stakeholders.

I am pleased to see that the development of the strategy took a human rights-based approach and is recognised as an action within the Equality and Human Rights Mainstreaming Action Plan. Embedding person-led policymaking in this way helps ensure that policy is not only evidence-based, but aligns with our wider commitment to fairness, dignity and respect.

I want to thank all those from across health and social care, the third sector, and our academic partners for their contribution to the development of the strategy. Their expertise and dedication reflect the shared national effort required to deliver safe, high-quality care for every person in Scotland.

Realising the vision set out in this strategy will require sustained, collective action across the whole system. Working together, we will continue to protect those who rely on our services and strengthen the foundations of care for the decade ahead.

Angela Constance MSP