Health and social care - data strategy: consultation

1. Ministerial Foreword

I am delighted to be spearheading the development of Scotland's first Data Strategy for health and social care. As a strong advocate of the use of data to improve the quality of our services in health and social care, empowering the use of quality data to drive high quality services delivery is close to my heart. The Strategy is our opportunity to bring the services across health and social care closer together, ultimately improving the experience of the individual and their treatment.

This Data Strategy will serve to enhance already trusted services delivered by health and social care across Scotland and will continue to look at the ethical and transparent use of data. It will also seek to further empower innovation and research using health and social care data.

We are now seeing an increasing amount of health data being gathered by individuals through wearable devices, smart scales and other technology. People are showing a greater desire to have a say in how their data is used and shared as well as playing an active role in looking after their own health and wellbeing.

This consultation is another step in encouraging the people of Scotland to give their voices and help shape the development the strategy. It builds on engagement that has been ongoing since November 2021 and will continue until August 2022.

There are three parts to the consultation, each aimed at different users and beneficiaries of data. However, it is important to stress that we all fit in to at least one type of user and I would encourage everyone taking part to answer as many questions as you are comfortable with.

We are developing a Data Strategy for health and social care with the primary aim of empowering the people of Scotland and your voices matter. The Strategy has the potential to position Scotland as an internationally recognised country for carrying out data driven research and innovation.

We value the contributions from everyone receiving, delivering, and improving health and social care services across the country. Together we will develop a meaningful Data Strategy that empowers greater use of data to continuously improve the services we provide in health and social care.

Humza Yousaf

Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care