THURSDAY, 20 NOVEMBER, 2025

NHS Tayside response to Audit Scotland report on mental health services

NHS Tayside welcomes the publication of today’s (Thursday, 20 November) report and its recommendations, recognising it as an important step in the next phase for the future of Mental Health and Learning Disability (MHLD) services in Tayside.

As today’s report sets out, challenges remain in terms of the complicated structures and governance arrangements which are currently in place, however there is also recognition that progress has been delivered in terms of the work of our frontline teams.

MHLD teams across Angus, Dundee and Perth & Kinross have delivered positive improvements across key areas for our patients and service users. These include reducing the number of delayed discharges and the use of surge beds in our hospitals, more support for staff wellbeing across all our sites and in the community, and new community wellbeing support centres in Dundee, Perth and Arbroath meaning that people across Tayside can access mental health and wellbeing services when they need them.

However, it is recognised by all the organisations who are involved in delivering MHLD services in Tayside that more work needs to be done to accelerate the pace of change and make a consolidated effort to tackle the long-standing challenges which are related to complicated governance and reporting.

NHS Tayside Board agreed an organisational objective for 2025/26 around integrating mental health and learning disability services which will promote effective and efficient use of all resources, improve outcomes for patients, reduce complexity and enable a clear platform to work at greater pace on change.

Recognising the urgency to deliver progress, NHS Tayside has been developing a new direction of travel for MHLD services in key areas for delivery since July 2025.

This includes:

• A reset of the former Whole System Change Programme (WSCP) to focus on the delivery of two major programmes of work – the development of a new model of care for adults and the transition of Learning Disability inpatients from Strathmartine Hospital and Carseview to Murray Royal Hospital in Perth – both of which are making progress (to reflect this, the WSCP will be renamed as the Programme Board for Tayside Models of Care for Adult Mental Health and Learning Disability).

• A collective commitment to ensure MHLD services are working as a whole, integrated system. This has involved liaison and discussions with Scottish Government, the Board of NHS Tayside and the MHLD leadership team.

• Ongoing work to review the complexity of the governance structures, how this affects the workforce in trying to deliver quality services and exploring different ways to organise MHLD services to achieve an integrated service with whole-system clinical, financial, performance and staff governance.

• Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) being developed to ensure transparent reporting of real progress over time to evidence continuous improvement.

• A Medium-Term Delivery Plan for Mental Health and Learning Disability in Tayside across the whole system is being developed for 2026/27.

The aim of the changes already under way to respond directly to today’s report is to ensure that the long-standing challenges in our mental health and learning disability services are addressed across the whole system.

This work is being developed at pace with the needs of our patients, families and service users at its centre and it is with this ongoing engagement that we believe we can make the difference to our communities and achieve the sustainable change which is needed.

ENDS

Contact:

NHS Tayside Communications

(01382) 424138