June 2026
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This conference focused on the future for health and social care reform in Scotland.
It brought stakeholders and policymakers together to discuss implementation of the Health and Social Care Service Renewal Framework and the Population Health Framework, as initial delivery plans are taken forward aimed at shifting care towards prevention and community provision, while addressing long-term system pressures.
Policy, implementation, resources & addressing pressures on the NHS
The future role of a national delivery organisation was examined, with the launch of Public Services Delivery Scotland expected in April 2026. We also expected discussion on priorities for addressing ongoing financial issues and future demand, as highlighted in Audit Scotland’s recently published NHS in Scotland 2025 report. Delegates also considered lessons that can be carried forward from the NHS Recovery Plan and the Operational Improvement Plan.
With the proposed move away from a hospital-focused model, sessions explored practicalities and strategic approaches to increasing community capacity, addressing challenges facing primary care, redesigning hospitals, and ensuring quality of care.
Delegates discussed resourcing and coordination required to achieve initial framework delivery plans, alongside implications for patients, local communities, the workforce, and health and social care system leaders.
Looking at funding, attendees considered priorities for targeting and effective utilisation of the nearly £22.5bn allocated to health and social care in the Scottish Budget 2026-27, including opportunities for improved productivity and efficiency.
Social care priorities, sector development & organisation
Further sessions assessed the rollout of measures under the Care Reform (Scotland) Act 2025, including Anne’s Law, improved support for terminally-ill patients, and enhanced rights for unpaid carers. Funding and structures needed to realise these aims were discussed, in the context of wider NHS-focused measures. Delegates examined the channelling of funding and support for workers announced in the Budget, and how concerns from some stakeholders around levels of funding and resources might be addressed.
Priorities for the National Social Work Agency were considered following its launch in March 2026, including delivery of the Strategic Plan for Social Work in Scotland. Areas for discussion included coordination across the sector, strategies to raise the profile of social work, and approaches to integrating co-production with the social sector and community into future national policy and practice, rather than top-down design.
The work of the National Care Service Advisory Board was also examined as it moves towards a permanent structure.
Those attending also looked at how provisions in the Care Reform (Scotland) Act align with broader aspirations for social care reform and expectations for non-statutory coordination mechanisms, as well as the scope for progress in addressing workforce challenges and ensuring sustainable funding.
Delivery, governance & stakeholder roles
Expectations for a future delivery organisation - having launched in April 2026 - were considered, including its role in supporting coordination between the Service Renewal Framework and Population Health Framework, embedding prevention and person-centred approaches across the system, and strengthening governance and accountability for reform delivery.
Delegates also considered next steps for the roles of local authorities, NHS boards, the third sector, and independent providers in establishing system-wide consistency, community involvement, and effective collaboration.
Immediate priorities for tackling health inequalities across regions were examined, looking at requirements for infrastructure and the workforce, including options for re-design, approaches to enabling functional workforce support, and effective frameworks for incorporating lived experience voices in policy and future planning.
Integration, service standards & access
Further sessions explored priorities for Integrated Joint Boards and Health and Social Care Community Partnerships in progressing integration and supporting community-based care, as well as ensuring high standards, sustainability, and consistent patient experience across the system. Strategy for a programme of population planning was considered, alongside ways forward for integration into the wider care system.
Delegates discussed digitalisation and collaboration with the life sciences sector as a key principle of service renewal, including partnerships between the NHS and private sector providers more widely, as well as a new approach to identifying promising medicines.
The impact of programmes such as Hospital at Home and the Digital Front Door service was considered, as will the wider role of virtual services in improving accessibility and community-based care through the National Innovation Adoption Pathway. Further discussion was expected on education and how best to achieve standards required to effectively deliver new services and medicines.
As well as key stakeholders those attending included officials from the Department of Health and Social Care; Department for Energy Security and Net Zero; Education Scotland; and The Scottish Government.
