Today we hosted our hugely successful joint hustings event, ‘Prevention and Power: Holyrood, Health and the Third Sector’, with the Health and Social Care Alliance (The ALLIANCE). Almost one hundred attendees joined us to hear representatives from the six main political parties in Scotland share their views on a range of issues related to health, prevention, and the third sector.
The hustings was co-chaired by VHS Chief Executive, Tejesh Mistry, and The ALLIANCE Chief Officer of Development, Sara Redmond. Party representatives included Cllr Euan Davidson from the Scottish Liberal Democrats, Emma Harper from the Scottish National Party, Patrick Harvie from the Scottish Greens, Carol Mochan from Scottish Labour, Brian Whittle from the Scottish Conservatives, and Helen McDade from Reform UK Scotland.
Event attendees were invited to share questions for the panel in advance, with six questions selected that reflected a wide range of relevant issues. These included questions on third sector funding, volunteering, embedding lived experience, addressing the social and commercial determinants of health, and the relationship between health and climate change. The event co-chairs maintained a lively pace, ensuring that all party representatives were able to respond to each question.
Themes that emerged from the hustings discussion were wide-ranging:
- Cllr Euan Davidson spoke about the need to move away from centralised decision-making and ensure proper funding of local government.
- Helen McDade from Reform UK Scotland reflected on the need to address financial unsustainability in the NHS by shifting to prevention and maximising staff retention.
- Scottish Greens representative Patrick Harvie shared his commitment to bring in more progressive taxation which would increase investment in health services.
- Carol Mochan shared Scottish Labour plans for a New Deal for the Third Sector that recognises the need for parity with public sector providers.
- SNP representative Emma Harper reflected on her party’s commitment to improving Scotland’s food environment through the Good Food Nation Plan and spoke about the dangers of ultra-processed food.
- Finally, Brian Whittle from the Scottish Conservatives spoke about the important role of education, as well as digital and technical innovation, for addressing health inequalities.
Despite the range of political views represented, there was broad consensus on the need for multi-year funding for third sector organisations, the importance of shifting to preventative and community-based care, and the vital role of social prescribing in addressing health inequalities. A more detailed key-messages document from the hustings event will be published on our website soon.
In the weeks to come, we will continue to advocate for the asks detailed in our Manifesto for Health Creation:
- Create a prevention-centred health system
- Prioritise Health Equity and the right to health
- Establish Third Sector parity
- Improve health measures and datasets
You can find out more about our Manifesto, as well as lots of useful information about the upcoming election, on our Election 2026 Toolkit webpage.
If the issues addressed in our joint hustings or our Manifesto resonate with you, join our movement for health creation! Third sector organisations can become a member of VHS, and you can also keep up with our work by subscribing to our monthly e-newsletter.
If you have any questions about the hustings event or want to hear more about our Manifesto for Health Creation, please get in touch!
