Person-centred Design and Improvement Programme

What we do

The Person-centred Design and Improvement Team support people working in health and social care to take a person-centred approach to improving the services they deliver and the quality of experience and outcomes for people in Scotland. 

This programme works with health and social care teams by providing direct support, coaching, approaches and tools that 

  • enable them to apply a blended approach of service design and quality improvement 
  • develop skills and knowledge to design and improve services in a person-centred way 

The programme also: 

  • shares learning from innovation and good practice in design and person-centred care being delivered in Scotland, and
  • works closely with other teams across Healthcare Improvement Scotland to embed person-centred design and improvement in their work.

What do we mean by person-centred care?

The way people experience health and social care is often impacted by how well staff are enabled to deliver person-centred care.

Where this is done well, people who access these services are supported to make informed decisions and to be involved in their own health and care. Health and social care staff will also work with other professionals to tailor services to the needs of the individual and what matters to them, ensuring care is coordinated, compassionate, personalised and enabling.

The Person-centred Design and Improvement team support health and social care staff to develop their skills and person-centred practices to continuously improve the person-centred care they deliver.                                  

What is service design?

At the heart of service design is the desire to put people first. To deliver the right solution or service you must first understand the problem space fully, which can only be achieved through meaningful involvement of those who deliver or receive the service. 

Whilst there are similar elements to service design and quality improvement, design places a lot of value on understanding the problem through understanding service user experience in a qualitative manner. 

The approach used by the Person-centred Design and Improvement team is aligned with the Scottish Approach to Service Design which describes design as a way of exploring the problem space openly, collaboratively and with service users, before a solution or service is decided.

Find out about 

  • Care Experience Improvement Model (CEIM)
  • Experience Based Co-design (EBCD)
  • Supporting person-centred care in COVID-19 situations
  • Health and Social Care Service Design Community of Practice
  • Person-centred Care Network

Contact us

Person-centred Design and Improvement Team

his.personcentredscot@nhs.scot