Doctors' and Dentists' Remuneration - 2025-2026 pay round: Scottish Government's written evidence

I. Employee Experience, Morale and Motivation Wellbeing

Wellbeing, Facilities and the Expert Working Group

220. Health, social care and social work services are under significant pressure, and we must ensure that support is sustainable and aligned with both current and emerging needs at national and local levels. We will continue collaborating with leaders and staff in health, social care and social work to identify and address areas of stress and to explore additional actions to support staff.

221. Alongside local support, we provide access to a range of national resources for staff wellbeing. Our wellbeing services include a 24/7 compassionate listening service through the National Wellbeing Helpline, self-guided resources via the National Wellbeing Hub, confidential mental health care through the Workforce Specialist Service (WSS) and access to psychological therapies that address common issues like anxiety, depression and sleep challenges. The Workforce Specialist Service, psychological therapies and interventions and the National Wellbeing Hub have secured long-term funding this year, allowing us to react to the needs of staff better.

222. These interventions reflect the need for additional resource beyond the scope of a single employer and on a spend to save basis. They support staff to stay in work and return to work, which in turn supports retention and patient safety.

223. From 2024/25, over £2.5 million provided annually by the Scottish Government will support health and care staff wellbeing, underscoring a commitment to offer care to those most in need.

Funding challenges for existing wellbeing programmes mean there is no capacity for additional work to be undertaken that relies on centralised funding for delivery.

224. Our workforce is key to delivering on our vision for health and social care and therefore we will continue to invest in sustainable national interventions to support wellbeing, culture and staff retention, improving longer-term recovery and service reform.

225. Employers have a responsibility to ensure the health, safety and welfare of their workforce and we will continue to support them in prioritising their wellbeing.

226. A new, SG funded, facilitated reflective practice group for GPs will be piloted at the beginning of 2025.

227. The monthly, online groups will provide participating GPs with a facilitated, confidential environment to connect with peers, to explore and receive support on any of the challenges they face in their work as a GP. Through the process of reflective group work, this support provides opportunity for new learning which can be solution finding but can also ameliorate the effects of the demands of the work whether these be clinical, managerial, spiritual, psychological, physical, social, practical, or emotional.

228. Work is also underway to develop a national resource for peer support and reflective practice with the aim of creating a self-sustaining model of support for staff.

229. We are continuing to prioritise compassionate and collaborative leadership, wellbeing and equality, diversity and inclusion for health, social care and social work staff and work closely with those who can enable and support culture change.

230. The Improving Wellbeing and Working Cultures (IWWC) strategy was released in 2024. IWWC is about supporting good working cultures through national and local programmes of work in these areas. It describes our vision and explains why activity in wellbeing, leadership and equalities is important for improving working culture. Work is ongoing to develop an ‘In Action Guide’.

231. We are also looking at a potential reflective practice group option for female Afghan Medical Student Refugees which would aim to help them support one another through shared experience.

Nursing and Midwifery Taskforce and other considerations

232. The Ministerial led Nursing Midwifery Taskforce (NMT) is currently finalising recommendations which will aim to improve wellbeing for Nurses and Midwives. The recommendations will be implemented for all staff where this is appropriate.

Equality

233. The Scottish Government recognise that throughout their career, employees will face differing demands on their time and energies at home as well as at work.

234. That is why we developed national workforce policies that provide staff with a range of flexible working options to help them to balance their lifestyle whilst maintaining and promoting the best possible service to our patients and service users.

235. These policies that include a Flexible Work Location and Flexible Work Pattern Policy have recently been refreshed in partnership under the NHSScotland ‘Once for Scotland’ Workforce Policies Programme. The new policies and supporting documents were published on 1 November 2023.

Equally Safe at Work

236. Equally Safe at Work is an innovative employer accreditation programme developed by Close the Gap, Scotland’s policy advocacy organisation working on women’s labour market equality. It supports employers to improve their employment practice to advance gender equality at work and prevent violence against women.

237. Equally Safe at Work was developed to support the implementation of Equally Safe, Scotland's national strategy to prevent and eradicate violence against women and girls.^[50] The strategy, which is jointly owned by Scottish Government and COSLA, recognises that violence against women is a cause and consequence of wider gender inequality. Addressing gender inequality in the workplace is therefore a fundamental step in preventing violence against women.

238. The Equally Safe at Work accreditation for NHSScotland was introduced as a pilot in July 2022.

239. Four health boards (Public Health Scotland, Ayrshire and Arran, Dumfries and Galloway and HIS) were part of this pilot.

240. A further six health boards (NHS Borders, NHS Shetland, NHS Orkney, NHS Fife, NHS Grampian, and NHS Education Scotland) were on the shadow group. NHS Lothian also joined the shadow group near the end of the accreditation period.

241. The pilot has now ended and all four health boards who partook in the pilot successfully earned development accreditation.

242. This pilot stage has enabled links with national work to support women’s health and equality in health boards, including the introduction of a menopause and menstrual health policy, committing to the Police Scotland Your Safety Matters Partnership to tackle violence and aggression, and the refresh of NHS workforce policies such as flexible working.

243. NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, NHS Education for Scotland, NHS Lothian and NHS Shetland are confirmed participants in the 2024 roll out of ESAW.

244. Scottish Government are working with Close the Gap and Health Boards to further increase NHSScotland participation in the programme for 2025.

Menopause and Menstrual Health Policy

245. As a medium-term action within the Women’s Health Plan, NHSScotland’s Menopause and Menstrual Health Policy launched on the 31st October 2023.

246. The policy aims to educate staff on menopause and menstrual health, provide a supportive environment where staff can perform at their best, and enable conversations between staff, managers and fellow colleagues. It is hoped that by providing advice and guidance on how staff can be supported when they experience menopause or menstrual health symptoms which affect their work. This will reduce stigma around discussing these issues in the workplace, support staff wellbeing and subsequently help staff retention.

247. Supporting resources, including line manager and workplace adjustment guides, are available on the National Wellbeing Hub.^[51]

248. To inform the policy, we worked in partnership with the University of Glasgow on ground-breaking research to establish a new evidence base on women’s experience of working in NHSScotland in relation to menstrual health and menopause.

249. The University conducted a survey in October 2022 for NHSScotland colleagues to understand their experiences of menopause and menstrual health in the workplace. Results from the survey and the University’s independent report can be accessed here^[52].