Audit Scotland
Transforming health and social care in Scotland
Audit Scotland supports the improvement of public services by looking at how public money is spent, and whether policies are achieving desired outcomes for individuals and bodies. We carry out extensive work on Scotland’s health and social care services, which face challenges from reducing budgets, increasing demand, and an ageing population.
We also report annually on the financial performance of councils and NHS bodies, such as health boards, and integration authorities, on behalf of the Auditor General and the Accounts Commission.
The hub below sets out more information on our work in this important area.
Download the transcript to our Health and social care in Scotland animation
Key facts
Key facts
- 7.1% increase drug costs between 2014/15 and 2015/16
- £445 million savings planned by health boards in 2017/18
- £10.8 billion estimated annual value of 788,000 unpaid carers' contribution
- Estimated 18-29% increase need for health and social care services by 2030
- 1.5 million hospital procedures performed in 2016/17
- 21,700 people receiving 10+ hours homecare per week in 2014
Exhibits
Our reports feature several exhibits that visualise complex data and processes in an accessible and informative way. See the examples below or click on our reports to find more.
Reports and Blogs
Adult mental health
September 13, 2023
NHS in Scotland 2022
February 23, 2023
Drug and alcohol services: An update
March 8, 2022
NHS in Scotland 2021
February 24, 2022
Social care briefing
January 27, 2022
Covid-19: Vaccination programme
September 30, 2021
Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services
August 31, 2021
Covid-19: Personal protective equipment
June 17, 2021
Social care reform questions remain
June 3, 2021
NHS in Scotland 2020
February 17, 2021
NHS in Scotland 2019
October 24, 2019
NHS workforce planning - part 2
August 29, 2019
Health and social care integration: update on progress
November 15, 2018
NHS in Scotland 2018
October 25, 2018
Children and young people's mental health
September 13, 2018
NHS in Scotland 2017
October 26, 2017
The 2016/17 audit of NHS Tayside: Financial sustainability
October 10, 2017
Self-directed support: 2017 progress report
August 24, 2017
NHS workforce planning
July 27, 2017
Scotland's NHS workforce
February 9, 2017
NHS in Scotland 2016
October 27, 2016
Social work in Scotland
September 22, 2016
Changing models of health and social care
March 10, 2016
Health and social care integration
December 3, 2015
Other resources
Overview of the NHS for 2018
The podcast for our report on the NHS in Scotland 2018 discusses the pressures and demands on the NHS, and the impact these are having. We've also produced a checklist, which is designed for non-executive directors to help with their role in overseeing the performance of NHS boards.
Download the podcast - PDF 6Mb
Download the checklist - PDF 195Kb
What is integration?
Our short guide summarises some of the key information from our first report on health and social care integration, and outlines how Integration Authorities are structured and function.
Health boards' spending and performance
Our interactive graphic from our NHS in Scotland 2018 report includes trends in activity and demand, key performance standards and rates of sickness and turnover.
Self-directed support
We published our report Self-directed support: 2017 progress report in August 2017. It included an easy-to-read summary of the report, and the results of the survey we undertook to hear from people using self-directed support.
Download the easy-to-read summary - PDF 154Kb
Download the survey results - PDF 496Kb
Social work services: views of users and carers
For our report on Social work in Scotland, we produced a supplement on the views of people and their carers using social work services.
Case studies: New models of health and social care
We have identified a number of new care models introduced across Scotland that are designed to deliver more care to people in community settings in line with the 2020 Vision.
Annual audits of councils and health bodies
Audit Scotland annually reviews the financial performance and processes of more than 200 public bodies. The Auditor General may also prepare a Section 22 report for the Parliament if any specific concerns or issues have been raised in the audit of a public body. Find out about the performance of health and social care organisations in your local area.
Get in touch
To discuss Audit Scotland’s work on health and social care or let us know what you think about this page, please contact:
