MyCare.scot – digital front door to health and social care: equality impact assessment summary

The Scope of the EQIA

This EQIA reflects the delivery direction and partnership of MyCare.scot, launched nationally April 2026. It has been developed alongside, but separate from, PSD Scotland’s own EQIA for the Digital Front Door Programme, which focused on technical design, delivery, and user experience.

The assessment covers all nine protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010: age, disability, sex, pregnancy and maternity, gender reassignment, sexual orientation, race and ethnicity, religion or belief, and marriage and civil partnership. It also considers groups recognised in wider Scottish statutory duties and national policy frameworks, including socioeconomic disadvantage (Fairer Scotland Duty), carers (Carers (Scotland) Act 2016), and island and rural communities (Islands (Scotland) Act 2018).

The EQIA is structured around the three aims of the Public Sector Equality Duty: eliminating unlawful discrimination; advancing equality of opportunity; and fostering good relations. For each protected characteristic, the assessment identifies whether MyCare.scot is likely to provide a benefit, create a barrier, or have a neutral impact.

The assessment draws on evidence gathered from 2023 onwards, including stakeholders’ engagement with over 40 organisations, national research and data sources, and early learning from the minimum viable product launch (MVP) in NHS Lanarkshire. It covers:

• Strategic context and policy alignment
• Digital inclusion framing, including the pillars of digital inclusion
• Evidence base and assumptions
• Workforce and connectivity considerations
• Web-based accessibility and WCAG 2.2 compliance
• Data, monitoring and privacy arrangements
• Characteristic-by characteristic impact analysis
• An Integrated Action Plan of mitigations and owners

This EQIA will remain live throughout national rollout. Each subsequent release of MyCare.scot will be considered in line with the EQIA to determine if updates are required.