We establishedthe Scottish Patient Safety Programme for Mental Health (SPSP MH) in 2012. Our programme focuses on interventions which:
- reduce harm
- enhance therapeutic relationships
- promote recovery
Collaboration
We work with NHS boards and health and social care partnerships to ensure everyone in adult mental health settings experiences safe, high quality, consistent, and person-centred care.
The programme supports improvements in the quality of care and patient outcomes by working with:
- national partner organisations
- healthcare teams
- service users
- carers
Current workstreams
The SPSP MH is part of the SPSP Essentials of Safe Care. It follows the core standards for mental health, and focuses on key safety priorities.
The current workstreams within the programme include:
- ensuring safety at points of transition from acute to community settings
- providing improvement support around restraint, seclusion and observational practice
- acting as a national learning partner in improving personalised risk assessment and management
Equality Impact Assessment
To ensure everyone can benefit regardless of their characteristics or where they access care, we completed an Equality Impact Assessment. This highlights key equality issues and any actions we took in relation to them.
To view our Equality Impact Assessment please email his.transformationalchangementalhealth@nhs.scot
Safety at points of transition collaborative
In September 2025, we launched a new collaborative focused on improving safety during transition between acute hospital care and community mental health services. This transitional period is a critical moment when patients are most vulnerable.
Research shows that poor coordination during these transitions can lead to increased risk of readmission, harm, and suicide. By working with healthcare teams, service users and carers, we will build safer, more connected systems that:
- ensure continuity of care
- reduce harm
- support recovery
Our programme objectives
- Successfully onboard test sites across NHS Scotland. This will help us to investigate, measure and improve their approach to safety at points of transition between inpatient and community settings.
- Develop learning materials which support the spread of best practice.
- Develop insights into best practice at points of transition. This will help to inform future scale and spread.
Personalised risk assessment
SPSP MH is currently acting as a national learning partner with Suicide Prevention Scotland. We are supporting improvement within clinical services in:
- risk management
- family and carer involvement
This includes building resources that support health boards and wider stakeholders. This will help them to apply the latest clinical and practice guidelines on personalised risk assessment for suicide prevention and self-harm.
Observation to intervention
From Observation to Intervention is aimed at all mental health care practitioners. It recommends that personalised care, treatment and safety plans are drawn up for every patient. They should be informed by their individual clinical needs, strengths, and indicators of deterioration and harm. Plans should be developed alongside each patient’s advance statement, their carer’s views and the reason they have been admitted to hospital. Visit our resources to find out more.
Alignment with wider Scottish Patient Safety Programme
SPSP MH is part of the overall Scottish Patient Safety Programme (SPSP). This is a national quality improvement programme that aims to improve the safety and reliability of care and reduce harm.
Since its launch in 2008, the SPSP has expanded to support improvements in safety across a wide range of care settings. This includes:
- acute
- primary care
- mental health
- perinatal
- paediatric services
- medicines safety
For more information on current SPSP workstreams, please visit the SPSP webpage.(add link)