Latest reform news and blogs

Welcome to NHS Health Scotland’s blog. Blog posts are written by our staff, partners and stakeholders. Opinions expressed are those of contributors and do not necessarily reflect the organisation’s views.

Showing 61 results

Driving a thriving Scotland with data science and effective networks
- 16 May 2019
- Reform programme
- Marion Bain, Co-director, Public Health Reform
The ambitious national programme to reform public health in Scotland has been bolstered by new national funding from a major UK research initiative focused on prevention. The UK Prevention Research Partnership has announced that it will invest in the new ‘Systems-science in Public Health and Health Economic Research consortium’ (SIPHER consortium), an innovative approach led by the University of Sheffield to applying systems science to public health. Marion Bain, Co-director, Public Health Reform has more..

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Partnerships for public health and the case for a joined up approach to Scottish reform
- 03 May 2019
- Reform programme
- Dona Milne, Director of Public Health
Re-aligning the role of the core and specialist public health workforce is a central part of Scotland’s ambitious plans for public health reform. Given the remit to explore potential ways of organising the workforce differently the Specialist Public Health Workforce Commission has now reached its conclusions, with new ways of working and stronger relationships being seen as the most effective way forward. Commission co-lead, Dona Milne, has more..

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Turning the tide on child poverty – the view from Angus
- 15 Apr 2019
- Reform programme
- Shelley Hague, Strategic Policy and Planning Manager
The national child poverty rate is on the increase. The Scottish Government estimates that more than 240,000 or 24% children live in relative poverty after housing costs. In Angus the figure is 5% below the national average but given that more than 4,200 children are experiencing issues Angus Council are taking a fresh approach to try and reverse the trend.

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Public Health Scotland - design to implementation
- 08 Apr 2019
- Reform programme
- Derek Grieve, Interim Head of Health Protection Division, Scottish Government
Derek Grieve is Interim Head of Health Protection at Scottish Government. In this blog post he reflects on the progress reform has made and the next steps in building Public Health Scotland.

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Understanding public health through community planning
- 29 Mar 2019
- Reform programme
- Eibhlin McHugh, Co-director, Public Health Reform programme
Community planning partners from across Scotland have been giving their feedback on what they see as the biggest challenges facing public health. Forming part of the ongoing reform programme, a number of engagement sessions took place recently. These sessions were part of a national tour which ranged from Lockerbie to Orkney. Professionals from across Scotland shared their experience of delivering local priorities and working with national partners.

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Laying the foundations for change
- 06 Mar 2019
- Reform programme
- Gareth Brown
Gareth Brown sets out the process to develop a Target Operating Model for Public Health Scotland. This process is a part of a journey setting out what Public health Scotland will look like in the future and how we will create a new organisation to support our ambitions for reform and health and wellbeing in Scotland.

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New year - new opportunities
- 24 Dec 2018
- Reform programme
- Gareth Brown
Gareth Brown is Programme and Policy Director for Public Health Reform. He reflects on the progress made in 2018 and the commission process. The commission process tells us about the importance of relationships and engagement for the next phase of reform and establishing a new public health body, Public Health Scotland. Through public health reform and the new public health body, we aim to deliver our ambitions to improve health and wellbeing.

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The Scottish Health Survey – an important public health resource
- 17 Dec 2018
- Reform programme
- Phil Couser
Phil Couser is Director of Public Health and Intelligence at National Services Scotland. In this blog he discusses the Scottish Health Survey, which was published in late 2018. The survey provides an important backdrop to reform and Scotland’s Public Health challenges. Phil sets out the opportunity for Public Health Scotland – once established - to get more actively involved in further contributing to this work. He also discusses how the survey and its findings can support collaboration and whole system working around the Public Health Priorities.

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National outcomes and public health priorities
- 12 Oct 2018
- Reform programme
- Gerry McLaughlin
Gerry McLaughlin is Chief Executive of NHS Health Scotland. In this blog post, he shares his thoughts on how we can deliver our ambition for Scotland’s public health priorities to improve Scotland’s health and wellbeing. Working together on the priorities we can contribute to national outcomes in a way that supports our effort to improve wellbeing and reduce health inequalities in Scotland.

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Public Health Scotland moves a step closer
- 06 Sep 2018
- Reform programme
- Gareth Brown
In late August, we received formal confirmation from Scottish Ministers and COSLA leaders that Public Health Scotland will be established as a Special Health Board. This is a significant and important milestone in the reform programme and allows us to progress the detailed work to establish the national body in 2019.

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