NHS Scotland operational improvement plan
Actions to improve specific aspects of NHS Scotland delivery, building on NHS boards’ own delivery planning for 2025 to 2026. This is the first of three documents on the Government's approach to health and social care renewal.
Conclusion
This is a plan to improve delivery in a number of specific areas which are key to wider delivery across NHS Scotland.
Assurance around delivery and impact is critical, and accordingly enhanced monitoring arrangements are being put in place to support implementation of this plan. The Government will be closely tracking and managing progress together with health boards, supported by the improvement capability within the Centre for Sustainable Delivery, based on regular reporting from health boards including weekly data returns across key metrics.
The Government will report against this plan publicly and to Parliament within 2025-26, aligned with its next annual update on the NHS Recovery Plan 2021-26, recognising that Public Health Scotland’s official statistics on waiting times for the final quarter to March 2026 are not scheduled for publication until May 2026.
This plan will continue to be built on over time. For example, the Government has previously committed to additional annual investment of £100 million for three years, subject to the Scottish Budget process, to clear planned care backlogs to a sustainable position, with 2025-26 being the first full year of that investment.
The Government is grateful for the engagement and input of stakeholders in finalising this plan and looks forward to continuing engagement and collaboration through its implementation.