Upcoming Events

VHS are hosting a Kitchen Table discussion, in person, at our office in Edinburgh, on the morning of Tuesday 5th September, to discuss the Scottish Government Human Rights Bill Consultation. We have invited selected members, challengers and critical friends to join us at the Kitchen Table. Please contact Lauren Blair if you would like to express and interest in attending.

The Scottish Government has launched the consultation gathering views to help inform the  Human Rights Bill. The Bill will incorporate a range of economic, social and cultural rights into Scots law for the first time. One of the rights listed is ‘The right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health”, this will be the primary focus of our consultation response. However, we are also interested in hearing our members’ views on incorporating the convention on the elimination of racial discrimination, the elimination of discrimination against women and the convention on the rights of persons with disabilities, not to mention plans to recognise the right to a healthy environment. So many of our rights are intertwined and impact our health and wellbeing, we want to hear what they mean to our members and their work.

We are holding a Kitchen Table discussion to help us cast a critical eye over our consultation response focusing on health, and to benefit from the perspectives, expertise and experience of people with professional or personal knowledge of the issues. The main body of the meeting will be concentrating on the consultation questions. We especially want to hear from any members who have imbedded a human rights based approach to their work supporting people’s health and wellbeing.

Listening to, learning from and collaborating with our stakeholders is crucial to enable VHS to put forward important views on the right to health and the role of human rights in tackling health inequalities as part of our consultation response.

Please contact Lauren Blair with any further questions.