Digital health and care strategy

Our Standards

We are committed to developing and delivering services in an ethical way.

To support this ambition, we will publish a detailed standards document that establishes what is required to deliver secure, interoperable systems across health and care. These standards will direct and assure how data, including clinical data, is coded, stored and flows across the system, and how systems should be designed. We will modernise regulation and legislation where required to maximise the progress and benefits of digital technology. However, what the system looks like, and what services are developed, will be guided by the following standards.

1. Start with the Scottish Approach to Service Design, so that the people of Scotland are supported and empowered to actively participate in the definition, design and delivery of their public services.

2. Develop using the Digital Scotland Service Standard. This is the service standard that aims to make sure that services in Scotland are continually improving and that users are always the focus. It is made up of 14 criteria for all organisations in Scotland to work towards – including building in security and privacy from the start.

3. Use internationally recognised open technical standards to improve interoperability and workflows between systems. We will look to publish open source code where possible to support wider use of the software developed in Scotland.

4. Ensure clinical safety and security of our systems are embedded throughout, noting that all software classed as a medical device must be compliant with current UK regulations.

5. Build on Scotland's Digital Participation Charter to ensure that all employees and people across Scotland are able to develop the essential digital skills they need to do their jobs, live their lives, and use different digital services with confidence.

6. The technical and data standards we publish will be a core requirement for the digital systems we procure and develop.

7. Robust ethical and impact assessments will be conducted to ensure that we are trustworthy and transparent in the way we work.