Transport to health: delivery plan

Introduction

This Transport to Health Delivery Plan has been prepared to deliver actions to take forward recommendations from the Transport to Health and Social Care Report (2019), which was prepared by the Mobility and Access Committee for Scotland (MACS) at the request of Ministers. This report made 27 recommendations that the Scottish Government should take forward regarding transport to health and social care services.

The establishment of a taskforce and progression of a response to the recommendations was halted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The impact of the pandemic, taken together with wider resource pressures and staff turnover, meant that work did not progress as intended. Transport Scotland did give greater emphasis on transport to health within the National Transport Strategy (2020) and Accessible Travel Delivery Plan (2021), but specific actions were not identified.

In early 2023, a joint review by officials of the original recommendations was concluded and a draft delivery plan for discussion with MACS was agreed by Ministers with further updates to Ministers pending further engagement.

The delivery plan has identified 16 commitments which can be taken forward, based on their feasibility, deliverability and affordability. They align with current policy commitments / delivery plans and promote and facilitate a focus on access to healthcare in a fair and equitable way, including through better integration of healthcare considerations into transport planning.

Key to this approach is to maximise the existing structures and policy delivery to better effect, without replicating forums and policies that are already in place. The commitments presented focus around existing regional planning bodies and ensuring access to healthcare facilities is fully considered within regional and local planning.

We will continue to use the NHS annual delivery plans to re-emphasise the need for Health Boards to consider patient access as part of the care pathway and reflecting the opportunity that is emerging for reducing the number of patient journeys through alternative options. The Re-mobilise, Recover, Re-design Framework (RRR) was published in 2020, and set out the approach for Health Boards to safely and gradually prioritise the resumption of paused services following the Covid-19 pandemic.

The implementation of the refreshed Digital Health and Care strategy was launched in 2021 also focusses on improved patient access to healthcare.