Planning for the Future: Delivering Health and Care Services through Innovation and Collaboration 

Over the past year, NHS Scotland and its partners across health and social care have once again risen to the challenges of delivering services during a time of unprecedented change. The collaborative efforts and adaptability demonstrated by our healthcare professionals highlight not only their resilience but also a steadfast commitment to the evolving needs of the population. 

Addressing the short-to medium term demands, maintaining services and delivering effective person-centred care have been of fundamental importance to meeting the needs of our population right now.  

However, we need to plan and deliver health and care in Scotland for the future. Working collaboratively to achieve practical and innovative solutions to the challenges we will face together will be a central focus for the NHS Scotland Event 2024.  

The legacy of the COVID-19 pandemic means frontline teams have been consistently challenged to find new and innovative ways to deliver high-quality services. We have witnessed examples of transformation and renewal in many parts of the health service, and it is these examples of best practice and collaboration that must be shared and extended into routine service delivery. 

The NHS Scotland Event represents the collaborative endeavour across NHS Scotland and its partners and the Scottish Government to drive forward the recovery and reform of our health and care services so that the system becomes more effective, efficient and sustainable. Discussions around how this will work will incorporate the reform of NHS Scotland, and the establishment of a new National Care Service fit for the future. 

Enabling people to access the right care in the right place is central to the long-term future of NHS Scotland and this year’s Event will create opportunities for colleagues to come together and explore how different parts of the service are working towards this goal. 

The NHS Scotland Event will examine how our health and care services are working to integrate the government’s core priorities into the services they offer. This will include examples which focus on Public Health, prevention and innovation. 

These include:  

• Tackling poverty to improve the life expectancy of people across Scotland;  

• Building in ways to achieve our country’s net zero target, which is fundamental to the health and wellbeing of everyone in Scotland; and  

• Ensuring that the founding purpose of our NHS, to provide free healthcare at the point of need, is never lost. 

The Event will provide the opportunity for colleagues to share their experiences, explore new ways of working, celebrate success and work together to deliver the highest quality person-centred, safe and effective integrated care for every individual in Scotland.