Foreword

Firstly, I want to convey my congratulations to our Chief Scientific Officer, Professor Catherine Ross, on winning “My Inspiration: The AHCS award for the most inspiring leader” in June.  This award recognises individuals who demonstrate outstanding leadership, champion others, and inspire positive change across healthcare science. Congratulations Catherine!

As we move into our final stages of development of the Education, Skills and Competence frameworks, I personally want to extend my thanks and gratitude to all who have participated. These frameworks will provide a clear and consistent structure for describing the knowledge, skills and competence required across healthcare science, supporting career development, workforce planning and future education investment. They will also help identify gaps in current provision and ensure that our workforce is equipped to meet evolving service and population needs across Scotland. Once finalised, our frameworks will be hosted on our website. We will review these annually to ensure that the frameworks remain contemporaneous.

PSDS HCS education has convened a healthcare support worker group to support Levels 2-4 of the career framework. Thank you to those who have signed up and are actively participating in shaping the resources to support career development at this stage. If you are interested in participating, please contact us at HCS@nes.scot.nhs.uk

Our annual bursary, offered to bands 2-9 to support further education and career development, launched in April. We received many applications and I am pleased to announce that we awarded 30 applicants funds to support a range of academic programmes.

A further bursary will be launched in September to help staff undertake training or education that will directly support service renewal, innovation and improved outcomes for patients and service users. More information to follow – keep an eye on our website funding pages.

We hosted another spotlight session in June with presentations from four healthcare scientists covering pharmaceutical science; genomics, sleep physiology and medical physics. For those unable to attend, recordings will be made available on our website. If you are interested in showcasing your specialty and its work, please get in contact. Another spotlight session is being arranged for October / November.

The annual HCS event 'Leadership Through Change and Innovation' will take place online on 1 September 2026 and will feature presentations from the Scottish Government, Academy for Healthcare Science, and the National School for Healthcare Science, among others. Registration and programme can be accessed - Public Services Delivery Scotland / Scottish Government Healthcare. Thank you to those who have submitted posters for our poster session – we will be in touch over the coming weeks to notify those chosen to present.

Discussions are ongoing with several healthcare science specialties in relation to the development of new programmes and initiatives including Physiological Sciences and Decontamination Sciences. If you wish to discuss these or any other potential developments, please contact us at HCS@nes.scot.nhs.uk

We encourage you to visit our website for further information and to join our mailing list to stay informed regarding developments and funding opportunities.