Health and social care: improving wellbeing and working cultures

1. Our Vision

Improving Wellbeing and Working Cultures builds on the National Workforce Strategy for Health and Social Care in Scotland^[4], which sets out a national framework to achieve the Scottish Government vision of a “sustainable, skilled workforce with attractive career choices where all are respected and valued for the work they do.”

This is mirrored in the First Minister’s Vision for Scotland Policy Prospectus^[5] and the Cabinet Secretary for NHS Recovery, Health and Social Care’s commitments to deliver by end of 2026.

“Delivered improvements in workforce planning, attraction, training, employment and wellbeing, progressing towards a sustainable, skilled health and care workforce, with attractive career choices, where all are respected and valued for the work they do.”

The Improving Wellbeing and Working Cultures Action Plan will map out key deliverables to achieve these.

We have worked with our partners to describe what working in health, social care and social work should look and feel like, if everyone is contributing to building a positive working culture by prioritising wellbeing, leadership and equality.

For Individuals this means:

• Staff are able to prioritise their physical, mental and emotional wellbeing.
• Regardless of background, staff feel encouraged to thrive and reach their potential with the right support, professional development and skills to perform at their best.
• Staff feel that their employer listens to and values their contributions.
• Staff understand their role in improving workplace culture.

For teams:

• Teams are supportive and responsive to the wellbeing needs of their colleagues.
• Teams are led by leaders who role model behaviours and values of kindness, compassion and collaborative working.
• Teams are inclusive and diverse.

For leaders:

• Leaders role model behaviours of kindness and compassion.
• Leaders work collaboratively across the organisation and wider systems.
• Leaders encourage others to use and develop their own leadership capability.
• Leaders promote equality, diversity and inclusion and actively challenge inequity, bullying and harassment.

For organisations:

• Organisations prioritise the physical and emotional wellbeing of their workforce.
• Organisations across health, social care and social work embody Fair Work and champion equity and diversity in their workforce.
• Organisations take accountability for monitoring and improving the wellbeing of staff from across all protected characteristics.