Health and Care (Staffing) (Scotland) Act 2019 - draft statutory guidance: consultation

1. Foreword

As Cabinet Secretary for NHS Recovery, Health and Social Care, it is my priority to ensure our health and care services are safe, effective and efficient, delivering the care that matters and that people value.

When I took on this role, I pledged to deliver improvements in workforce planning and digital innovation. Implementation of the Health and Care (Staffing) (Scotland) Act 2019 is a key step in this journey. It will put in place the systems and processes we need to enable better workforce planning, better transparency of risk and better accountability. The Act covers a wide variety of health care and care services and the provisions are designed to be flexible in order to take into account local context and the delivery of different models of care, along with supporting innovation.

Health and care services data is vital to improving services, designing policies and supporting the delivery of key priorities and, under the Act, there are various obligations for organisations to report on, and publish, information about how they have met their requirements. We, as the Scottish Ministers, also have obligations under the Act, regarding presenting information to Parliament.

This statutory guidance is intended to support organisations in meeting their requirements under the Act and I encourage individuals and organisations to provide feedback to ensure the guidance can achieve this. I want to express my thanks to all of our NHS and care staff who have contributed not only to the drafting of this guidance but have been great advocates for this legislation. I am truly thankful for your dedication and service to the people of Scotland and look forward to working with you to help our health and care services flourish post-pandemic.

Michael Matheson

Cabinet Secretary for NHS Recovery, Health and Social Care