Mental health strategy: third annual progress report
- Area of Work: The ALLIANCE
- Type: News Item
- Published: 17th March 2021

The Scottish Government have published their third annual progress report, Minister for Mental Health Clare Haughey summarises.
Much has changed since the Second Annual Progress Report on the Mental Health Strategy 2017-27. In 2020, Scotland, along with the rest of the world, was faced with an unprecedented public health crisis in the COVID-19 pandemic. The mental health impacts of this have been significant, with people across the country affected every day. Underlying inequalities have meant that those mental health impacts have not been felt equally. The Scottish Government continues to focus on mental health as an absolute priority, and it has never been so critical to do so.
The impacts of the pandemic at a societal level have meant that mental health has been brought to the forefront like never before. The Scottish Government continued to chart a path through the pandemic with the vision to lay out a Mental Health Transition & Recovery Plan, which is of “a Scotland where people can get the right help at the right time, expect recovery, and fully enjoy their rights, free from discrimination and stigma.”
Now, with the vaccination programme well underway, the Scottish Government are able to think about the gradual easing of restrictions, it will be ever more important that they continue to ensure it has the right mental health support in place.
The events of the past year have been traumatic and challenging, and it continues to see emerging and changing effects on mental health and wellbeing. This means that the Scottish Government are clearly operating in a different context than that of November 2019, when the previous progress report on the Mental Health Strategy 2017-27 was published.
Therefore, this annual report on the Strategy focuses on the specific progress made over the past year. It also seeks to provide a wider picture of where the Scottish Government find themselves now, and the work they are taking forward to improve the mental health of the people of Scotland.
Full article available at Mental health strategy: third annual progress report (this link will take you away from our website).
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