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January 2026
Dear Colleague,
Happy New Year! The year of the Scottish Parliament Election is upon us and we’ve already had a Scottish Budget to contend with this month.
In this edition I’ll share some of our reflections on the Budget and some of our plans ahead of the Election, as well as the usual relevant policy updates.
Sarah Latto, Policy and Public Affairs Lead
Get Involved!
Election 2026: What would be useful for you?
We are planning ahead for the Scottish Parliament Election and would welcome your suggestions on what would be useful to support your efforts to influence candidates. For example, we could provide guidance on navigating electoral rules, letter templates, or social media graphics based on our manifesto asks.
We’d also like to know if you are planning on hosting a candidate visit or a hustings event so that we can promote this - please get in touch.
Healthy Weight Implementation Plan
We have been invited to feed into the development of the Healthy Weight Implementation Plan, supporting the key initial priority of ‘Improving Healthy Weight’ in the Population Health Framework. We’re keen to ensure that the evidence and insights of our members on this topic are reflected in our inputs to this important plan.
If you have any insights or evidence you would like to share on this, please get in touch by the 23rd January.
VHS Response: Scottish Budget and Spending Review
Last week we published our reflections on the Scottish Budget for 2026-27, as well as the Spending Review published on the same day.
We found that there was a lot to celebrate in the Budget from a health creation perspective, with clear commitments to further the shift to prevention and community-based care. However, we were disappointed that the third sector was not referenced at all in health and social care spending commitments and believe this was a missed opportunity.
Follow Up: Joint Statement on Prevention
Together with partners, we have launched a follow up to our joint statement on prevention ahead of the Scottish Budget on the 13th January. This new statement explores the ‘hard-to-do’ actions for translating policy into practice.
Blog: Will a shift to prevention heal Scotland’s third sector?
Our Policy and Public Affairs Lead has written a blog reflecting on the shift to prevention in policy as a necessary step for safeguarding the third sector in the future.
Read the blog on our website here
This blog has also been published on the TFN website here
Health Policy Officers Network
We will be hosting an in-person meeting of the Health Policy Officers Network (HPON) this week to discuss opportunities for collective influence ahead of the election, as ideas for improving third sector representation at party conferences.
If you are interested in finding out more about the HPON, get in touch.
Cross Party Group (CPG) on Health Inequalities
VHS provide the secretariat for the CPG on Health Inequalities, and the next meeting will take place on the 26th January, 10-11.30am with a theme of Gender and Health. To find out more about the CPG, including how to become a member and attend this meeting, please get in touch.
Wider Policy Developments and Publications
The following is a summary of relevant policy developments, but it is not an exhaustive list. Please contact me if you want to speak about something not listed here.
Member and Stakeholder Manifestos
Many of our members will be publishing manifestos ahead of the Scottish Parliament election in May next year. If you would like your manifesto to be shared in this bulletin, please send it to me.
Below is a selection of the manifestos we have been sent.
- A Walking and Wheeling Manifesto – Walking Scotland
- SCVO’s 2026 Scottish Parliament election manifesto - SCVO
- Dear Scotland’s Future - Scottish Youth Parliament
- Looking for a Better Scotland - RNIB
- Creating a Nation of Volunteers – Volunteer Scotland
- NCO Carers Manifesto - Carers UK
- Seizing The Moment - Scottish Autism
- Manifesto for a Wellbeing Economy
- The Prescription for Change: Transforming the future of child health - RCPCH Scotland manifesto 2026
- Our Manifesto for the 2026 Holyrood Elections - Neurological Alliance of Scotland
- VOX Scotland Manifesto
- Manifesto for Social Connection
- 2026 Manifesto - ASH Scotland
Policy News and Publications
Women's Health Plan: Phase Two
The Scottish Government have published Phase Two of the Women's Health Plan, with priorities around transforming gynaecology services, eliminating cervical cancer, and gaining a better understanding of women's brain health. The plan also hopes to better harness innovation for women and girls.
Third Sector, Carer and Lived Experience Reps Gain IJB Voting Rights
Scottish ministers committed to legislative change which will extend voting rights on Integration Joint Boards to include service user, unpaid carer and third sector representatives.
Suspected Drug Deaths in Scotland
The most recent statistics published by the Scottish Government for July-September 2025 showed that there were 898 suspected drug deaths in the first nine months of 2025 – 8% greater than the same period for 2024.
Assisted Dying Bill Amendments
SPICe published a briefing detailing the main committee recommendations and summarising the changes to the Bill at Stage 2 as well as those amendments that were not agreed. Key amendments made were increasing the minimum age of eligibility from 16 to 18 and clarifying that disability or mental health conditions alone do not constitute terminal illness.
Missed Cancer Treatment Targets
No NHS board in Scotland met the national target for 95% of patients to begin cancer treatment within 62 days of an urgent referral, according to new figures from Public Health Scotland. The data, covering July to September, shows that nearly 30% of those urgently referred with suspected cancer waited longer than the 62-day target to start treatment.
Report on Delayed Discharge
A joint report by the Accounts Commission and the Auditor General for Scotland on delayed discharges finds that those medically ready to leave hospital spent 720,000 unnecessary days in hospital in 2024-25. While the full financial impact is unknown, the cost to the NHS in hospital days alone is an estimated £440m a year.
Pandemic Preparedness
The Scottish Government has published a progress update regarding the UK Covid-19 Inquiry Module 1 recommendations on pandemic preparedness, reaffirming its commitment to practical improvements and highlighting delivery over the past year through partnership working and four-nations collaboration.
Resident Doctors Call Off Strike Action
The Scottish Government announced that Resident Doctors have called off proposed strike action across Scotland after the British Medical Association (BMA) Scottish Resident Doctors Committee agreed to ballot members on an offer of 4.25% in 2025-26 and 3.75% in 2026-27. The committee is recommending that their members accept the two-year pay deal.
Risks of Unregulated Baby Scan Clinics
The Society of Radiographers (SoR) has warned that serious pregnancy complications, including fetal abnormalities and ectopic pregnancies, are being missed or misdiagnosed due to a lack of regulation in private baby scan clinics.
Relevant Consultations
UK National Screening Committee is consulting on prostate cancer screening recommendations – Closing 20th February 2026
Extension of Freedom of Information in (Scotland) Acts 2002 (FOISA) to private and third sector providers of care home and ‘care at home’ services - Closing 30th March 2026
That's all for this month! If you have any questions in the meantime, or suggestions for future editions of this bulletin, please get in touch.
