The Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations is the membership organisation for Scotland's charities, voluntary organisations and social enterprises. Charity registered in Scotland SC003558. Registered office Caledonian Exchange, 19A Canning Street, Edinburgh EH3 8EG.
Health
The third sector plays an absolutely vital role in Scotland’s health landscape. Our members deliver an extraordinary range of preventative, community-based health services, from mental health support and health improvement work to condition-specific advice, peer support, and self-management programmes. This work keeps people well, prevents ill health, reduces demand on the NHS, and reaches people who too often fall through the gaps of statutory services.
Yet the organisations delivering this essential work do so within a funding landscape that is short-term, uncertain, and frequently fails to reflect the true value and cost of what they provide. Much of the funding available is tied to specific projects and delivered on an annual basis, with little support for core costs and few multi-year commitments. Funding decisions are often made late, and standstill settlements that fail to account for inflation are, in real terms, cuts.
This instability undermines the preventative, community-based work that is so central to a sustainable health system. It makes it difficult for organisations to plan ahead, to retain skilled staff, and to build the long-term relationships with communities that are so essential to effective health work. And it places enormous strain on the people delivering these services, many of whom are supporting some of the most vulnerable people in our communities.
Fair Funding would provide the stability and security that third sector health organisations need to continue delivering the preventative, community-based work that keeps people well and eases the pressure on our overstretched NHS. This is exactly the kind of preventative investment that the Christie Commission called for almost 15 years ago, and which remains as important as ever today.
We are always at risk of closing down in the next six months
Improving Scotland’s health and easing the enormous pressure on our NHS are among the most significant challenges facing the country, and ones to which the Scottish Government has committed significant attention. Central to meeting these challenges is a shift towards prevention and early intervention, moving away from a system focused on treating illness towards one that keeps people well in the first place. And it is precisely here that the third sector plays such a vital role.
Across Scotland, third sector health organisations deliver the kind of preventative, community-based support that keeps people well, prevents ill health, and reduces demand on statutory services. But this work depends on organisations being able to operate from a position of stability and security, something that the current funding landscape simply does not provide.
“We are always at risk of closing down in the next six months,” explains an organisation delivering community-based health support. “That’s no way to run a service that people depend on, and it’s no way to treat the staff who work so hard to deliver it.”
“The short-term funding means we can’t plan, we can’t invest, and we can’t offer our staff any security,” admits a mental health charity. “We spend so much time chasing the next pot of funding that it takes away from the work we’re actually here to do.”
“We deliver preventative work that saves the NHS money in the long run, yet we’re the first to face cuts when budgets are tight,” adds an organisation supporting people with long-term conditions. “It’s completely counterproductive.”
The implementation of Fair Funding would allow third sector health organisations to move away from this constant instability, providing the security and stability needed to plan ahead, retain skilled staff, and continue delivering the preventative, community-based work that keeps people well and eases the pressure on the NHS.
“Fair Funding would allow us to focus on delivering the preventative work that keeps people well and out of hospital,” says the community-based health organisation. “It would be better for the people we support, better for the NHS, and better for Scotland as a whole.”
Public money – impossible to access (anonymised)
Organisation F delivers vital, community-based health services, supporting people to manage their health, prevent ill health, and remain well within their communities. Focused firmly on prevention and early intervention, the organisation’s work reflects exactly the kind of approach that Scotland’s health system so urgently needs, reducing demand on statutory services and reaching people who might otherwise fall through the gaps.
Despite the clear value of its work, and its alignment with the Scottish Government’s stated priorities around prevention and health improvement, Organisation F has found accessing public money to be extraordinarily difficult. The funding that is available is often tied up in complex, time-consuming application processes that place a disproportionate burden on the organisation, requiring significant time and resources that could otherwise be spent on the delivery of frontline services.
Even when funding is secured, it tends to be short-term and restricted, offering little in the way of stability or flexibility. This makes it extremely difficult for the organisation to plan ahead, to invest in its services, or to offer any real security to its staff. The lack of support for core costs presents a particular challenge, with funders willing to support specific projects but reluctant to fund the essential infrastructure that makes those projects possible in the first place.
The impact of this funding environment is significant. The uncertainty created by short-term, restricted funding makes it difficult to retain skilled, experienced staff, who understandably seek more secure employment elsewhere. It undermines the organisation’s ability to build the long-term relationships with communities that are so central to effective health work. And it places enormous strain on the people delivering these vital services, many of whom are working with some of the most vulnerable people in society.
For Organisation F, the implementation of Fair Funding – including multi-year funding, simplified and proportionate application processes, and greater support for core costs – would be genuinely transformational. It would provide the stability required to plan ahead, retain experienced staff, and continue delivering the preventative, community-based health work that keeps people well and eases the pressure on Scotland’s overstretched health and care services.