The Scottish Government has published its “Palliative Care Matters for All” strategy to 2030, outlining the role of data to inform service planning, delivery, and monitoring, and digital in providing future care plans that “work better” across health and social care.
The collection and reporting of population data at national and local levels is said to be key to improving palliative care and informing service delivery, planning, and outcomes measurement, the government highlights. Work is reportedly underway to ensure better access to local population data dashboards, with further clarity on what should be collected from and shared with health boards, integration authorities, and third sector delivery partners.
“Few Integration Authorities or Health Boards reported having a dedicated resource for managing, reporting or collecting local data on palliative care and care around dying,” the government shares. “Those that did were more able to integrate and use data effectively to improve care.” Standards for reporting and evaluating specialist palliative care services are needed, and at a minimum, datasets should include both quantitative and qualitative measures and templates for data reporting to support improved service planning and delivery.
The government notes digital also has a role to play in future care planning: “Digital developments need to provide future care plans that work better across health and social care,” it states. “This will enable more health and social care staff to create and use these plans with people of all ages. Some people wish to have their own plan on a mobile application.”
A delivery plan is also shared, showing timelines for 23 actions covering data and experiences, future care planning, governance, and enabling communities. For the shorter term in 2025-26, the focus is on public information, paediatric palliative care, person-centred planning, adult specialist services, a learning hub, guidelines, and more.
Digital in delivering change across Scotland
Scotland’s Public Service Reform Strategy sets out three commitments for Scottish public services: to be preventative, to better join up, and to be efficient. It outlines 18 workstreams covering areas such as leadership, cultural change, and understanding demand drivers; as well as data sharing, digital public services, digital skills, and intelligent automation.
An update on Scotland’s data strategy for health and social care has shared key achievements from 2024/25 and priorities for 2025/26. The update highlights the launch of the first iteration of the digital front door in NHS Lanarkshire in December 2025, plans to develop an interactive map for data ethics, a pause in GP IT system transition, work on the primary care data and intelligence platform, and an upcoming policy framework for the use of AI in health and social care.
The digital health and care directorate in Scotland has issued an update for 2025/26 on its national digital health and care strategy delivery plan, pointing to current status and anticipated delivery dates for work across digital access, inclusion, services, foundations and skills. This follows a number of developments towards a renewed focus, it states, aligning with NHS Scotland’s operational improvement plan.
