National study to strengthen Scotland’s resilience to climate change
NHS Scotland Assure is taking part in an upcoming and pioneering national study which is bringing together major infrastructure owners, operators and public bodies to better understand how climate change could affect the essential services people across Scotland rely on every day.
Commissioned through the Climate Ready Infrastructure Scotland (CRIS) Forum, the research will look at how Scotland’s critical infrastructure systems are connected and how climate-related disruption in one area, such as energy, water, transport or communications, could have knock-on effects across others. The study is believed to be one of the first of its kind globally to be jointly commissioned by multiple infrastructure owners and operators.
For healthcare, this matters because our services do not operate in isolation. Hospitals, health centres and community services are all part of a wider interconnected infrastructure, all of which needs to operate together effectively to serve our population. Understanding those connections will help NHS Scotland better anticipate where disruption could affect healthcare and strengthen how we plan and prepare for a changing climate.
A collective effort
Public Services Delivery Scotland alongside NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde are each co-funding and representing NHS Scotland as part of this wider collaborative approach to understanding Scotland's interconnected climate risks.
The wider coalition includes organisations responsible for Scotland's transport, energy, water and communications infrastructure - Network Rail, Scottish Water, ScotRail, Openreach, SSEN Distribution and Transmission, Transport Scotland and the Met Office, with support from the Scottish Government.
Building a clearer picture of shared risk
The benefit of working together is the ability to look beyond risks facing individual organisations and get a fuller understanding of the bigger picture.
A hospital building, for example, may itself be resilient to a particular climate event, but disruption to the power, water, communications or transport networks it relies on could still affect its ability to deliver services.
The study will aim to create the first shared register of how Scotland's infrastructure systems depend on one another, identify areas where disruption could have the greatest consequences and examine how those impacts could spread across interconnected networks.
For NHS Scotland, this can provide stronger evidence to inform climate adaptation and resilience planning, helping to improve coordination, better understand vulnerabilities, prioritise action and investment, and ultimately protect the continuity of healthcare services for the communities that depend on them.
Next steps
The National Centre for Resilience, hosted by the University of Glasgow, is managing the process and coordinating delivery on behalf of the funding partners.
The research will move into delivery through a specialist supplier, with the work expected to run for around 12 months.
Find out more
Explore additional information about the Climate Ready Infrastructure Scotland Forum and related work.
