ICESCR concluding observations 2025, paragraph 51
Plain English recommendation
Government should:
(a) Do more to ensure universal health coverage. This includes increasing resources for the National Health Service (NHS), training and retaining medical staff, and ensuring access to equipment and infrastructure, reducing waiting times and improving services in remote and rural areas. Measures should remove stigma and barriers to access to health for Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities, undocumented migrants and asylum-seekers, and to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons in relation to gender identity-related healthcare, especially in Scotland. Action should be guided by the UN advice on the right to the highest attainable standard of health;
(b) Improve mental health services by ensuring they have enough resources and better community-based support. Government should introduce initiatives to destigmatise mental health and implement targeted action for groups that are disproportionately affected by mental health conditions.
Original UN recommendation
The Committee recommends that the State Party, along with the devolved governments of Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales:
(a) Strengthen measures to ensure universal health coverage in practice by increasing resources for the National Health Service, securing sufficient qualified medical staff, ensuring access to adequate medical equipment and infrastructure, reducing waiting times, improving health services in remote and rural areas and removing stigma and informational and technological barriers to access to health for Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities, undocumented migrants and asylum-seekers and to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons in relation to gender identity-related healthcare, particularly in Scotland, guided by the Committee’s general comment No. 14 (2000) on the right to the highest attainable standard of health;
(b) Strengthen mental health services and support systems by allocating sufficient resources, strengthening community-based support, undertaking initiatives to destigmatize mental health issues and implementing targeted measures for groups disproportionately affected by mental health problems.
Date of UN examination
12/03/2025
Original UN document
Download the original ICESCR concluding observations 2025 on the UN website.
Last updated on 21/08/2025