Health and social care: a year of progress 2025-2026

3. NHS Recovery Plan 2021-2026 : Final Summary

The NHS Recovery Plan 2021–2026 was published in August 2021 and set a clear direction to restore services, recover lost capacity and strengthen the foundations of our NHS for the future. Annual Reports on progress have been published for 2022, 2023 and 2024 which set out the journey to recovery.

In 2025/26, work previously undertaken within the context of the Recovery Plan was delivered through the Operational Improvement Plan and therefore progress over the past year has been covered in the preceding section. However, it is important that this is set within the context of the achievements over the lifetime of the recovery plan. Working closely with NHS Boards and partners across the health and social care system we have made meaningful progress across a number of areas, including:

• Increasing our NHS capacity across Scotland, with planned inpatient and day-case activity delivering over 270,600 procedures in the 12 months from February 2025 to January 2026, above the previous year’s level. We have also increased our National Treatment Centre capacity and have commissioned over 30,000 diagnostic tests and procedures in 2025/26.
• Expanding diagnostic procedures, supported by additional MRI and CT capacity. We have delivered over 10% more diagnostics tests in the last quarter compared with the same quarter in the previous year. That means thousands more people getting their MRIs, scans and scopes sooner, helping them get a faster diagnosis and move onto the right treatment pathway more quickly.
• Supporting primary and community care, including enhanced access to treatment and earlier intervention, with 80,000 patients supported through enhanced service GP appointments for key cardiovascular risk factors.
• Improving urgent and unscheduled care, ensuring more people receive the right care in the right place, with services such as NHS 24 and SAS supporting tens of thousands of people each month through alternatives to A&E. For instance, in week ending 8 March 2026, 50.6% of Scottish Ambulance Service emergency incidents were managed without any need for transfer to hospital.
• Increased investment in mental health, with spending more than doubled between 2006 and 2024, reaching £1.49 billion, which now accounts for 9% of total NHS expenditure.
• Saving lives with naloxone with an estimated 8 in 10 people at risk of opioid overdose now having been supplied with a naloxone kit. Naloxone carriage is now standard practice for all frontline police officers.
• In March 2026 we launched Preventing Harm, Promoting Recovery: Scotland's Alcohol & Drugs Strategic Plan 2026 – 2035, which sets out the next phase of long term reform.
• Investing in prevention, early intervention and digital innovation, enabling new ways of accessing care, with over 100,000 people supported through remote monitoring programmes such as Connect Me, which are of particular benefit for patients living in rural and island communities.

These achievements are a testament to the dedication of our workforce and their sustained commitment to delivering high‑quality care for the people of Scotland.

With the conclusion of the NHS Recovery Plan, work has now transitioned to our national health and social care renewal programme. This builds on the work that has taken place to recover our health and social care services from the pandemic and looks ahead to a shared focus on prevention, community‑based care, improved access and long‑term sustainability across Scotland’s health and social care system.