Scottish Health Council
Making sure your voice counts
The Scottish Health
Council’s role is to improve how the NHS in Scotland involves
people in decisions about health services.
NHS Boards have a responsibility to focus on the needs of patients
by listening to them and responding to their needs, and to involve
people in the planning and development of health services. This is
sometimes called ‘Patient Focus and Public Involvement’.
The Scottish Health Council helps to make sure that the public has
a say in the NHS by:
- supporting NHS Boards to
share good practice, exchange ideas and develop new approaches on
how to involve people in health services
- assessing and reporting on
how well NHS Boards involve people in the development of services,
and
- working with NHS staff and
communities to improve how patients, carers and the public are
involved in health services.
The Scottish Health Council also provides support for
Independent Scrutiny Panels that are established by the Scottish
Government to consider proposals for major changes to local health
services.
The Scottish Health Council is part of Healthcare Improvement
Scotland.
