Public health: policy and reports - Scotland

Introduction

Three interlinked policy frameworks provide the strategy for improving health in Scotland. Equally well focuses on tackling health inequalities and its implementation plan describes the action plan for the Government and community planning partnerships across the four priority areas identified. The Early years framework is concerned with providing the best start in life for children. Achieving our potential aims to tackle the root causes of poverty.
 
NHS Health Scotland is the national agency for public health. Its corporate strategy for 2012-2017 underlines the intention to “focus on the persistent inequalities that prevent health being improved for all” ensuring that the programme of work supports the NHS Quality Strategy for person-centred safe and effective care.
 
Advice, information and other services to co-ordinate, strengthen and support activities aimed at protecting people in Scotland from infectious and environmental hazards are provided by Health Protection Scotland.
 
In Scotland NHS boards are required to set up Community Health Partnerships (CHPs) and there is at least one CHP in each NHS board’s area. They also work closely with local authorities. CHPs are intended to help bridge the gap between primary and secondary healthcare and between health and social care and have a key role in delivering local health improvement to reduce inequalities.
 
For further information see the policies below. See also agencies and topics.

Policy and reports

The following section includes key strategic documents and related reports which shape the public health agenda - most recent first.

These resources were last accessed on 19 April 2013. Some of them are in PDF format - see How to access PDF files.

The following three social policies - Equally well, Early years framework and Achieving our potential were developed with the intention that they act in tandem with each other and related policies in order to fully achieve the health improvements required and tackle health inequalities. 

• Equally well: the report of the Ministerial Task Force on Health Inequalities (2008)
  This report focuses on the challenges posed to Scotland by the significant health inequalities and looks at the underlying causes and the factors that impact on this. The Task Force utilised a cross-sector approach involving loacal government, NHS Scotland, the voluntary sector and the research community and this is represented in the recommendations made which also take into account work and initiatives already underway. The report identifies priorities for action and sets out recommendations under a series of headings. The Task Force also recommended that pilot sites within community planning partnerships should test and promote its recommendations for change in policy, practice and delivery.
  These plans are further developed in the Equally well implementation plan.
  Other policies have been developed to work alongside Equally well in order to fully achieve the health improvements required and tackle the health inequalities, in particular the Early years framework and Achieving our potential.
• Achieving our potential (2008)
  Achieving our potential focuses on four main areas of improvement to reduce income inequalities and tackle poverty and sets out the priorities for action and investment by the Scottish Government and local government.
• Early years framework (2009)
  The framework defines early years as pre-birth to eight years old. It recognises the importance of these earliest years to good health and other outcomes in adult life. And sets out 10 transformational steps towards giving children in Scotland the best start in life.

Audit Scotland (2012) Health inequalities in Scotland
In this review Audit Scotland suggest that there is limited evidence that strategies and initiatives for reducing health inequalities have made a significant impact. It highlights the need for better targeting of resources and better partnership working. Recommendations include the introduction of national indicators to specifically monitor progress in reducing health inequalities.

Health Promoting Health Service (HPHS)
Health Promoting Health Service is based around the concept that “every healthcare contact is a health improvement opportunity” with the idea that every day work can incorporate health promotion and provide opportunities to improve health of staff, patients and communities.  Information about the HPHS is available within the NHS Health Scotland website and along with resources and case studies. The resources include an introductory guide published in 2005.

Chief Medical officer: Annual reports

Chief Medical Officer Annual Report 2011 - Transforming Scotland's Health (2012)
This annual report focuses on health inequalities and describes some of the research that has been carried out over the past few years in some of the poorest areas of Scotland. For previous reports see:  Health in Scotland 2009 Time for Change: Annual Report of the Chief Medical Officer (2010) and Annual Report of the Chief Medical Officer 2010 (2011).

Earlier policies 

Better health, better care: action plan (2007)
This action plan describes a detailed programme of work to achieve its three main components of health improvement, tackling health inequality and improving the quality of health care. The section on improving Scotland's health sets out actions to increase healthy life expectancy in Scotland, reduce health inequalities, break the link between early life adversity and adult disease, and reduce smoking, excessive alcohol consumption and other risk factors to a healthier life.

Improving health in Scotland - the challenge (2003)
This document presents the first phase of a framework for delivering the policy for health improvement set out in 'Partnership for care'. It describes the actions that the Scottish Executive will undertake to achieve a more rapid rate of health improvement in Scotland and identifies a range of special focus programmes which encompass physical, social and mental aspects of health.