Mental Health and Wellbeing Delivery Plan
The Mental Health and Wellbeing Delivery Plan sets out our priorities and actions to help us achieve our vision of a Scotland, free from stigma and inequality, where everyone fulfils their right to achieve the best mental health and wellbeing possible.
Who Will Deliver Mental Health Services and Supports?
The successful delivery of the actions within this Plan relies on a sustainable, skilled and supported workforce. Workforce considerations must therefore be embedded throughout implementation. Work is underway to implement the recommendations of the Mental Health Nursing Review, and the Psychiatry Recruitment and Retention Working Group which will strengthen workforce capacity, capability and sustainability, while the Mental Health and Wellbeing Workforce Education and Training Advisory Group will continue to advise on current and future education and training needs including those working in the third sector.
Supporting the wellbeing of those delivering services remains essential to workforce sustainability, recruitment and retention, and the delivery of safe, high-quality care.
The first publication of the NHS Scotland mental health workforce statistics represents an important step in improving workforce data, providing a stronger foundation for national and local workforce planning.
Mental Health Officer (MHO) capacity remains a significant workforce challenge. The Scottish Social Work Partnership (SSWP), comprising the National Social Work Agency (NSWA), COSLA and Social Work Scotland, is considering actions to address social work workforce pressures, including those affecting MHOs. The SSWP Delivery Plan, to be published by the end of 2026, will set out workforce development actions.
As we move towards a more prevention-focused approach, the role of the wider workforce beyond clinical settings must also be appropriately supported. Our work on system reform will also include consideration of where resource is required across the wider public and third sector.
Continued support and investment in peer support recognises the valuable contribution of lived experience to recovery and service improvement. Through the Scottish Recovery Network and wider peer-led approaches, we will continue to build workforce capability, strengthen the evidence for peer support and promote its integration across services.
Together, these developments will support a whole-system approach to workforce planning and delivery. Recognising the recruitment and retention pressures across the system, we will continue to work collaboratively with national and local delivery partners to strengthen workforce sustainability, capacity and capability. This will help ensure that services are equipped to meet current and future mental health and wellbeing needs and deliver high-quality, person-centred care.