Healthcare Improvement Scotland

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Healthcare Improvement Scotland

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The purpose of Healthcare Improvement Scotland is to enable the people of Scotland to experience the best quality of health and social care.

We believe that every person in Scotland should receive the best care possible every time We have five key priorities. These are areas where we believe we can make the most impact and where we focus our efforts and resources.

1. Enabling people to make informed decisions about their care and treatment.
2. Helping health and social care organisations to redesign and continuously improve services.
3. Provide evidence and share knowledge that enables people to get the best out of the services they use and helps services improve.
4. Provide quality assurance that gives people confidence in the services and supports providers to improve.
5. Making the best use of resources, we aim to ensure every pound invested in our work adds value to the care people receive.

29/10/2026

Support can be easier to access when it is available in places people already know.

Healthcare Improvement Scotland has developed these resources to help people explore how community-led approaches can support prevention, collaborative working and make better use of local strengths and resources.

Community hubs bring health, social care and community organisations together around local needs.

They can help people find support earlier, have a conversation about what matters and connect with different services in one accessible place.

This week’s resource looks at community hubs. Link in comments.

28/10/2026

We have co-designed refreshed change packages for falls, pressure ulcers and deteriorating patients.

The Scottish Patient Safety Programme is a national quality improvement programme that aims to improve the safety and reliability of care and reduce harm.

These change packages show how the actions and changes a team makes will achieve improvement. They have been updated to provide evidence-informed theory for improvement in one accessible place.

They include:

- downloadable driver diagrams

- change ideas

- measurement frameworks, and

- supporting resources and tools.

If you'd like to connect with others using these resources, we're also holding network sessions throughout 2026/27.

Visit the link in the comments to access the change packages.

27/10/2026

As health and care services prepare for winter, the National Infection Prevention and Control Manual has been updated, including changes to transmission-based precautions.

The updated guidance covers how infections spread, how to assess transmission risks, and how to choose and use face masks.

For more information on the changes and to review the winter preparedness campaign, click the link in comments.

27/10/2026

We have issued an invitation to tender to procure an independent evaluation of the Scottish Approach to Change.

We are seeking to commission a suitably qualified and experienced provider to design and deliver a robust, independent evaluation of the Scottish Approach to Change between December 2026 and March 2028.

The evaluation should provide objective challenge, learning, reflection and assurance regarding the implementation and impact of the programme, including the extent to which it continues to embody its core principles of openness, collaboration and responsiveness to system feedback.

The invitation to tender is now live, and it closes on 25 November 2026. Find out more at the link in the comments.

26/10/2026

Our responsive support service provides expert advice, tools and practical help, to engage effectively with people and communities.

Paula Riley, a Patient Safety and Improvement Manager from NHS Dumfries and Galloway, contacted our Engagement Practice Responsive Support service for help designing and delivering two people-led care workshops at their annual Quality and Safety Conference.

Working closely with the team, we developed and adapted workshop content to meet local needs and support delegates to explore journey mapping as a tool for understanding what matters most to people through their experiences of care.

The workshops engaged 29 participants, with evaluation feedback showing increased understanding of people-led approaches and the value of journey mapping in improving quality and safety.

Paula said: "We had fantastic support from the team. They took time to understand what we needed, adapted resources to meet our local needs, and were flexible on the day. Their preparation and superb delivery ensured a really positive experience for those attending. The sessions gave attendees an opportunity to understand the value of journey mapping as a tool, to understand what really matters to people. We plan to use the resources to build confidence and support future place-based work."
Link in comments.

23/10/2026

What are community-led approaches?

Community-led approaches put people, relationships and local strengths at the centre of health and social care.

Healthcare Improvement Scotland has developed these resources to help people explore how community-led approaches can support prevention, collaborative working and make better use of local strengths and resources.

They can help us make support easier to access, build community connections and move towards more relational, people-led ways of working.

This week’s resource is an introduction to community-led approaches including key enablers: What are community-led approaches?

Link in comments.

21/10/2026

You're invited to observe our Board meeting

Would you like to see how our Board makes decisions that shape our work? If so, come along to our next Board meeting.

🗓 Wednesday 2 December 2026
🕥 11:00am
📍 Glasgow or online via MS Teams

Meeting papers will be available on our website in advance.

If you’d like to observe the meeting and gain insight into our Board’s discussions and decision making, email [email protected] to register your interest.

We look forward to welcoming you.

16/10/2026

We are hosting a special webinar to mark Black History Month.

The webinar title is ‘Building ethnic equity and trust in research and guidance: debiasing health evidence,’ and will take place on Thursday 22 October, from 10-11am.

This session brings together internationally renowned experts to explore how bias can influence the appraisal and reporting of health evidence, and what we can do to build greater ethnic equity and trust in research and guidance.

Attendees will hear from Ramona Naicker, Scholarly Services Librarian at Deakin University, Australia, on debiasing critical appraisal. She will be followed by Professor Shaun Treweek and Dr Azar Alexander-Sefre from the University of Aberdeen on debiasing evidence reporting using the PRO EDI tool.

The webinar will conclude with an interactive question and answer session.

Link to register in comments.

14/10/2026

Three-quarters of Scots back the opt-out system for organ and tissue donation in Scotland.

The statistics were revealed in our 18th Citizens' Panel.

Link in comments.

13/10/2026

📅 Have you signed up for our Annual Review yet?

There's still time to register. Sign up by 16 October to join us in person or online via MS Teams.

You'll hear from our Chief Executive and Chair about our achievements over the past year and our plans for the future. You'll also have the opportunity to submit your own questions about our work.

👉 Find out more and register via the link in comments

Address

1 South Gyle Crescent
Edinburgh
EH129EB

Website

https://www.healthcareimprovementscotland.scot/

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