Foreword by the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing
NHSScotland depends on a committed, dedicated workforce that is proud to work for the NHS and deliver quality services to patients. The workforce has a significant role to play in the implementation of Better Health, Better Care and the drive towards creating a "Healthier Scotland" through its three main components of health improvement, tackling health inequality and improving the quality of health care.
We want a workforce that is engaged in moving towards a new ethos for health in Scotland. That ethos is one of mutuality, as described in Better Health, Better Care, where ownership and accountability is shared by the Scottish people and by the staff who work in it. We want to move towards an NHS where we think of the people of Scotland not just as consumers - with only rights - but as owners - with rights, a voice and responsibilities.
To take this forward, ownership, accountability and responsibility for health must shift to ensure that the people of Scotland have the means to make informed choices about their lifestyle and the ability to self-manage their care. Our workforce has a significant role to play in enabling this shift to happen and is crucial for communicating values to customers, potential members and other stakeholders.
This workforce framework sets out the vision for the NHSScotland workforce within the wider UK and global context. It describes the challenges that need to be faced over the coming period and identifies the strategic actions required to deliver the vision across the country, while protecting flexibility at local level to enable NHS boards to respond to local needs.
The actions deliberately focus on the longer-term direction of travel to enable NHSScotland to prepare for longer-term challenges while ensuring that the day-to-day business of providing services that are fit for purpose continues uninterrupted.
Delivery of the workforce framework requires leadership at all levels by Scottish Government and NHSScotland, and wider health and social care partners, to ensure joined-up delivery across Scotland. In particular, human resources directors in NHSScotland will have a key role in leading workforce developments in each NHS board area.
But we are not starting from scratch. A huge amount of progress has already been made by NHSScotland and wider stakeholders in relation to the workforce agenda. Our task now is to sustain and accelerate that progress, sharing best practice and encouraging innovative working across public, private and voluntary sectors to ensure maximum impacts for the people who co-own the NHS - the citizens of Scotland and the NHS workforce.
Nicola Sturgeon, MSP
Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing