{"id":739242,"date":"2025-04-15T07:35:27","date_gmt":"2025-04-15T14:35:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/?post_type=blog&#038;p=739242"},"modified":"2025-05-16T13:08:38","modified_gmt":"2025-05-16T20:08:38","slug":"green-national-health-scotland","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/blog\/green-national-health-scotland","title":{"rendered":"Public Health Scotland Leverages Location to Boost Healthcare"},"author":671,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"sync_status":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","castos_file_data":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[],"tags":[491352,160522,492422,301572,488242],"industry":[],"esri-blog-category":[491392,491702],"esri_blog_department":[478192],"class_list":["post-739242","blog","type-blog","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","tag-bng","tag-health","tag-hospitals","tag-natural-capital","tag-scotland","esri-blog-category-environment","esri-blog-category-health","esri_blog_department-gis-for-good"],"acf":{"video_source":"","video_start":"","video_stop":"","short_description":"National Health Service Scotland uses GIS to create green health-care strategies, enhance public health, and promote environmental sustainability","pdf":{"host_remotely":false,"file":"","file_url":""},"flexible_content":[{"acf_fc_layout":"sidebar","layout":"standard","image_reference":null,"image_reference_figure":"","spotlight_image":null,"section_title":"","spotlight_name":"","position":"Right","content":"National Health Service Scotland (NHS Scotland) is revolutionizing healthcare sustainability by leveraging GIS technology to map and enhance their extensive land holdings and greenspaces, promoting healthier lifestyles and public well-being while contributing to Scotland's climate goals. <em>(The aerial image above is of Stobhill Hospital in Glasgow, Scotland)<\/em>\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Key Takeaways<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>NHS Scotland solidified the need for location intelligence during the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Greenspace maps of real estate holdings support planning and decision-making for environmental sustainability and public health.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Land Use Navigator, an interactive mapping app, shares data on greenspaces and fosters access to nature.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>","snippet":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Before the COVID-19 pandemic, NHS Scotland had abundant data but lacked context to maximize its value. Specifically, the agency\u2019s data was not tied to location\u2014which limited their understanding of how location affected health outcomes and service delivery.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The pandemic, however, became a catalyst for health-care systems worldwide, driving adoption of geographic information system (GIS) technology.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThe light was shone; people started to realize the question of \u2018where?\u2019 is really important,\u201d said Andy Gasiorowski, a principal information development manager for Public Health Scotland, a specialty board of NHS Scotland.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Gasiorowski took to GIS tools right away. He used his data science and health-care knowledge to create a contact tracing app for incident management teams to better view and understand the spread of infection. He also created maps for urgent decisions such as where to put testing sites and give vaccines.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">From that start, Gasiorowski knew there was more that location intelligence could reveal.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cI've worked away at this for quite some time on my own, but now we\u2019re in a very fortunate position whereby we\u2019ve invested more in GIS, and we now have a small but perfectly formed team around me,\u201d Gasiorowski said.<\/p>"},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":739302,"image_position":"right","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"<h3 style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Supporting Sustainability Strategy<\/strong><\/h3>\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Scotland's ambitious 2045 net zero emissions legislation required all government entities to participate. Former health and social care secretary Humza Yousaf emphasized in the NHS Scotland <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.scot\/publications\/nhs-scotland-climate-emergency-sustainability-strategy-2022-2026\/\">Climate Emergency and Sustainability Strategy <\/a>that addressing environmental impact was a shared \"moral obligation\" for protecting human health. The strategy connects population wellbeing with environmental health. Tasked with creating more sustainable healthcare through GIS, Gasiorowski discovered NHS Scotland\u2019s 22 regional boards lacked a unified inventory of facilities and land holdings.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cOne of our first deliverables was to digitally map the extent, quality, and accessibility of our green space,\u201d Gasiorowski said.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The GIS team discovered that 52 percent of NHS Scotland\u2019s real estate holdings were natural areas, from small patches of lawn to large, forested estates. Of the total area of 1,572 hectares, 825 acres consist of trees, grass, scrubland, and agricultural land\u2014almost twice the size of the country's famed Loch Lomond nature reserve.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With green spaces now identified, the agency aims to enhance areas near health-care facilities to promote nature access, food production, and active living.<\/p>"},{"acf_fc_layout":"gallery","gallery_images":[739292,739272,739282]},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"<h3 style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Shifting Estate Management from Drafting to Mapping<\/strong><\/h3>\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Previously, regional boards focused on buildings that housed patients and staff, using computer-aided design (CAD) drawings or paper floorplans. Many didn\u2019t know their property boundaries or total land holdings. Gasiorowski\u2019s team partnered with 22 national estate organizations to compile property lists, converting both digital and paper records into GIS. They verified addresses and mapped details including land size, parking, bicycle storage, electric vehicle charging stations, gardens, paths, and roads.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">By managing and visualizing all real estate data in GIS, the team ensures a holistic understanding of built and natural environments. To make the real estate data widely accessible, they created an interactive mapping app and dashboard to allow Public Health Scotland staff and the regional boards to see the locations of green corridors and active travel networks to support planning and decision-making. The Fife regional board collated its holdings in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.arcgis.com\/apps\/dashboards\/906c620ae5d1486e9f5152de680b5716\">Land Use Navigator<\/a> to allow anyone to explore its land and buildings.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThere\u2019s always been that understanding of the therapeutic benefits of greenspaces, but now, we have the data to support green health initiatives\u2014adding courtyards and green roofs accessible to patients,\u201d Gasiorowski said.<\/p>"},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"<h3 style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Advancements in Data Sharing and Public Awareness <\/strong><\/h3>\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Gasiorowski and his team also made the <a href=\"https:\/\/publichealthscotland.scot\/publications\/an-interim-assessment-of-nhs-scotland-greenspace\/an-interim-assessment-of-nhs-scotland-greenspace\/\">greenspace assessment<\/a> available to the public.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cPublic Health Scotland is a public resource, and this land should be used for public good where possible,\u201d he said.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The information has sparked conversations with organizations and groups across Scotland to reimagine green spaces and unlock public value.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This isn\u2019t the first time that Public Health Scotland has used GIS to develop interactive map-based web apps that make public health information more accessible. Using the Sweet for ArcGIS web application from Esri UK, the agency gathered the boundaries for all 942 general practitioners (GPs) offices in Scotland.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Moving forward, there are a number of ways GIS can continue to deepen understanding for the public and health organizations in Scotland.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cI had a discussion with someone on one of our mental health teams about how we can help with suicide reporting,\u201d Gasiorowski said. \u201cThat reporting is not being done in a spatial manner currently, and sadly a lot of insight is probably being missed.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n<h3 style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>After Mapping Comes Habitat Assessments<\/strong><\/h3>\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As the connection between human health and environmental health becomes more apparent, Public Health Scotland\u2019s green space data is being used for biodiversity studies and sustainability planning.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/biodiversityuk.com\/\">Biodiversity UK<\/a>, an organization working to reverse the loss of species due to land development, has worked with Public Health Scotland on habitat surveys for some of the biggest estates.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The work is similar to a bold new initiative from England, dubbed <a href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/blog\/england-values-nature-development\/\">Biodiversity Net Gain<\/a>\u00a0(BNG), which requires land developers to create 10 percent more biodiversity than was there before the land was developed.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cOnly the Netherlands across Europe is further ahead in understanding the biodiversity side of their holdings, but there\u2019s a lot more that we need to do,\u201d Gasiorowski said.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Gasiorowski and his team are continually working to update the data and collaborate across agencies.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWe want this to become a living, breathing dataset, with ongoing communication with 22 organizations,\u201d he said. \u201cFor this long-term work, it\u2019s key that we have processes in place to know when changes to their estates take place.\u201d<\/p>\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Learn more about how <a href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/health\/overview\">GIS is used to improve care in public health<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/conservation\/overview\">restore health to the natural world<\/a>.<\/p>"}],"references":null},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.9 (Yoast SEO v25.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Public Health Scotland Leverages Location to Boost Healthcare<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"National Health Service Scotland uses GIS to create healthcare strategies, enhance public health, and 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