For fifty years, Children’s Health Scotland has been listening to what matters most to children and young people about their health and their rights. Through five decades of stories, surveys, programmes, hospital visits, school sessions, and lived experience, one message has never changed: Children and young people know what they need — and their voices must guide the future of healthcare in Scotland.
This year we are undertaking our biggest survey ever. Each survey below helps us understand health rights from your unique point of view and we need you to take part. Please click on the link to complete the survey most relevant to you
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Children and Young People: CLICK HERE
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Parents/Carers (Trusted Adults): CLICK HERE
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Health Professionals: CLICK HERE
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Local Authorities: CLICK HERE
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Health Boards and Child Health Commissioners: CLICK HERE
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Education staff: CLICK HERE
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Schools can have children engage by using our free resource known as our Health Rights Power Pack – perfect if you are working toward your Rights Respecting School Award. To find out more: CLICK HERE
Why This National Health Rights Survey Matters
For fifty years, our work has been rooted in the lived experiences of children, young people, families, and the professionals who support them. This has never been a top‑down effort — it has always been shaped by those whose health rights we exist to uphold. Today, that legacy continues through our Health Rights Defenders: children and young people across Scotland who are guiding us, challenging us, and leading the way in defining what good health and rights should look like. They have been clear about what they need from us — “listen to us, and gather the evidence so we can make Scotland better for children like us.” This national survey is our response to that request.
This year, as we mark our 50th anniversary, we are undertaking a Scotland‑wide effort to understand what health rights look like in 2026 — in hospitals, schools, homes, clinics, and communities. The insights we gather will shape the priorities of our Health Rights Defenders and strengthen their voice as they work with decision‑makers and services across the country. As one Health Rights Defender told us:
Sometimes adults don’t understand what it’s like to live with a health condition every day. But when they listen — really listen — it makes things better.
Fifty years on, listening remains our most important responsibility — and ensuring that children and young people are at the centre of Scotland’s health and rights system remains our most important mission. This survey is not new work; it is the next chapter of a long-standing commitment to put children’s voices where they belong: at the heart of everything we do. With our My Health, My Rights Conference ahead, the incorporation of UNCRC, and children’s rights moving closer to the centre of national policy, Scotland is being asked to listen more carefully than ever before.
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We want this evidence to be strong.
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We want it to be honest.
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We want it to reflect the Scotland children and young people deserve.
What Children and Young People Are Telling Us
Across our programmes and surveys, children and young people consistently tell us the same things:
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They want to understand their health.
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They want to be involved in decisions.
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They want trusted adults who listen.
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They want safe spaces and dignity.
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They want support that arrives when it’s needed — not too late.
Their voices have shaped our My Health, My Rights Charter, written by children and young people living with health conditions across Scotland. As Jess, age 15, shared:
Young people like me often get forgotten about. We don’t get to have our voices be centre stage. But with My Health, My Rights – we do.
And at Parliament, another young voice captured the significance of being heard:
Young people like us don’t get a chance to be in Parliament often and have people listen to our words. — Lyall, 15
These voices show hope, not despair — and a clear expectation that adults, services, and systems can evolve.
What the Data Shows — And Why It Matters
Our survey is not being undertaken to highlight failure. It is being done to inform better decision‑making and support meaningful change.
Scotland’s current landscape includes:
- Over 42,000 children waiting for neurodevelopmental assessments, reflecting increased identification and awareness.
- 4,674 children and young people on CAMHS waiting lists, demonstrating the scale of need and the demand for expanded mental health services.
- 240,000 children living in poverty, shaping health outcomes and highlighting the importance of rights‑based support.
- Dental data showing the continued importance of prevention:
- Over 80,000 children registered with NHS dentists had not attended for five years
- Hospital dental extractions average 652.8 per 100,000 children, with higher rates in more deprived areas
This data is not negative — it is real. It reflects pressures, unmet needs, changing demands, and evolving systems. Most importantly, it helps us plan for better support. As it says in our manifesto for children and young people:
We need timely, equitable, and rights‑based care — no child should have to wait until crisis hits before help arrives.
Their call is clear: Use data to improve, not to blame.
This Year’s Survey: Your Chance to Strengthen the Evidence
For our 50th year of gathering Scotland’s health rights experiences, we want every voice represented. Whether you are a child or young person, a parent or carer, a teacher, a nurse, a doctor, a commissioner, or a local authority — your perspective is essential.
Fifty Years of Listening.
Fifty Years of Learning. This is the moment to speak. Your voice will help shape the findings we launch at the My Health, My Rights Conference, contributing directly to national conversations about health rights, services, and the future of child health in Scotland. This survey is not about highlighting problems — it is about building solutions. If you believe in a Scotland where every child’s health rights are understood, respected, and acted upon, then take the survey. Share it. Encourage others.
Together, we can make sure the next 50 years are defined by progress, partnership, and children’s voices at the centre of every decision.
If you have any questions, please contact us on CYPHRS@childrenshealthscotland.org
