10 April 2026
by Niall Christie
Scottish Recovery Network launches new ten-year strategy.
A new 10-year strategic plan, launched this week by Scottish Recovery Network, sets out an ambitious vision for lived experience and peer support to drive transformational change in Scotland’s mental health system.
Catalysts for Change (2026–2036), outlines how investing in lived experience leadership and a peer support workforce increases access to mental health support, easing pressure as demand continues to grow.
The strategy calls for a shift towards more collaborative, cross-sector and community-based approaches to mental health recovery, enabling people to access help earlier, in ways that work for them, while reducing unnecessary reliance on clinical services.
This approach offers a two-fold opportunity: improving people’s experiences and outcomes by providing more personalised, relationship-based support, while allowing clinical services to focus where they add the most value.
It also sets out how embracing lived experience and peer-led approaches can help transform culture and practice across the system, supporting more trauma-responsive, human rights-based and recovery-focused support.
The plan comes at a time of increasing national focus on the need to renew public services and prioritise prevention and early intervention.
By 2036, the Scottish Recovery Network envisions a system where people can access compassionate, appropriate support in their communities without always needing a diagnosis, and where peer support is recognised as a fundamental part of mental health care, not an optional add-on.
Louise Christie, director of the Scottish Recovery Network, said: “We know Scotland’s mental health system is under real pressure, and that too many people struggle to access the right support at the right time. This strategic plan sets out a different future, one where people with lived experience are not just consulted, but are trusted to lead change in their communities, services and systems.
“We need to stop tinkering around the edges and instead transform how support is designed and delivered, making it more compassionate, more effective and focused on what matters to people.”
The strategy highlights how a strengthened peer support workforce and greater investment in lived experience leadership can enable earlier access to mental health support in communities
Reduce pressure on overstretched primary care and clinical services, improve outcomes for people through more personalised, relationship-based care, drive innovation and system-wide change.
The full Catalysts for Change (2026–2036) strategic plan is available online now.
Louise Christie added: “Scotland is struggling to staff a mental health system that can meet current demand. The answer isn’t only about more clinicians; it’s about broadening how we think about the workforce and the types of support people can access.
“Lived experience and peer support roles already exist, and we know they work. What’s missing is consistent recognition, investment and integration across the system.
“Other countries are already embedding these roles as part of major system reform. Scotland has the opportunity to build on the innovation already happening and go further.”
New plan to transform Scotland’s mental health system - TFN
The above information is from a Third Force News (TFN) Newsletter Fri 10/04/2026