RSPH has welcomed the Scottish Government’s Health and Social Care Delivery Plan for the NHS in Scotland, published on 19 December 2016.

Drawing on the recommendations of the 2015 Review of Public Health and the wider public sector reform agenda in Scotland, RSPH believes that the proposals will positively influence the health of the people of Scotland as they seek to strengthen the nation’s existing public health service.

RSPH particularly welcomes the plan’s affirmation of the priority the Scottish Government places on improving public health. It calls for a concerted, sustained and comprehensive approach to improving population health through:

  • The creation of a set of national public health priorities during 2017
  • The establishment of a new, single, national body for public health
  • Developing ways to strengthen local partnership arrangements to support the delivery of public health priorities

In the longer run, the plan also highlights the need for NHS Board reform and this too will be an essential component in strengthening the Public Health Service in Scotland.

RSPH believes these proposals have the potential to be transformational in creating a stronger, clearer public health system in Scotland to improve and protect the health of the Scottish population and sustain improvements to the nation’s health and social care integration arrangements.

Commenting on the plan, Shirley Cramer CBE, Chief Executive of RSPH, said: “In recent years, the Scottish Government has set the pace with its ground-breaking approach to public health policy and it is to be congratulated on this ambitious vision for public health in Scotland. If Scotland is to address the current challenge posed by persistent health inequalities, it can only be through the type of concerted, sustained and comprehensive approach set out in this plan.

“As a UK organisation, RSPH is keen to be closely involved in these developments and help in the co-production of the new Scottish Public Health Service that is clearer in its priorities, supported by a more effective national public health agency, and with the potential to consistently good public health services for people across Scotland.”