Mental Health and Wellbeing Delivery Plan

What Will We Improve?

This Delivery Plan sets out the actions we believe will make the biggest difference in the current context for people across Scotland with mental health and wellbeing problems, or who need access to neurodevelopmental support; alongside work to take a preventative approach.

Our aim is for a range of support to be more readily available in local communities, online or by telephone and via educational settings or employers. We want mental health support to be easily accessible through primary care, and for those who need it, to be referred to high quality specialist mental health services as close to home as possible.

If someone’s mental illness cannot be managed in the community, the actions in this plan, along with vital ongoing work with partners, will help to ensure access to high quality, compassionate and person-centred inpatient services.

For neurodivergent people, we know that many will benefit from support to understand their needs and build on their strengths and we want that to be easily accessible. A formal diagnosis may not be needed to receive support. This is because help such as adjustments at home, in early years settings, in education or employment, can be provided based on their needs. That said, for some people, diagnosis can be helpful particularly where medication or more intensive support is required. The actions set out in the plan will help to make sure there are more opportunities for every neurodivergent person to reach their full potential.

To make these changes across mental health and neurodevelopmental services, we need to support and invest in our workforce across all parts of the system to build their capacity, skills and knowledge and wellbeing to allow them to provide the best possible support and care in a trauma-informed way that works to reduce mental health stigma. Where investment in the workforce will be most impactful will be informed by our wider work on reform.