Campaigns in Scotland

With your help, we take action on the issues affecting people living with MS in Scotland.

Making Scotland’s new welfare system make sense

For the first time ever powers over some disability benefits are coming to Scotland. These include Personal Independence Payment (PIP), Disability Living Allowance (DLA) and Carers Allowance. We’ve been asking you what you want to see in the new social security system, and you’ve told us:

• less face to face assessments
• lifetime awards
• easier application forms
• a system which is flexible to the needs of a fluctuating condition such as MS.

The Bill to establish a new Scottish social security system was passed in April 2018. It will be a while before it is fully up and running, but we’re working hard to make sure the voice of the MS community is heard and that the system works for people living with MS. Read about our response to the Government's consultation on the new social security system.

Get involved

Join our campaigns community for all the latest updates and actions on social security in Scotland.

Read about how we're campaigning across the UK to make welfare make sense.

Access to treatments in Scotland

In Scotland, there are 12 disease modifying therapies (DMTs) available on the NHS for people with relapsing MS. However, our research shows that in Scotland only 57% of people that are eligible to take a DMT are currently taking one.

Read more about our research into access to treatments.

We've been finding out how people in Scotland with relapsing MS make decisions about whether to take a DMT, and which DMT to take. We published what we found in our report into prescribing practices for DMTs: Right Treatment, Right Time.

This year, the first treatment for people with early primary progressive MS, ocrelizumab, was licensed for use in the UK. It was also licensed for relapsing MS. In July, the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) decided that ocrelizumab won’t be available for relapsing MS on the NHS in Scotland. They felt its benefits weren’t worth how much the drug costs. After this decision, the drugs makers decided not to get the green light for it to be used for early primary progressive MS.

We’re working to understand the full reasons for these decisions, and will continue working with the SMC and others to see new submissions in future.

How do MS treatments get approved for the NHS in Scotland? Read our blog for an overview.

Read more about how we're campaigning for access to treatments across the UK

MS Week in the Scottish Parliament

MS Awareness Week was on 23-28 April, and we raised awareness at the Scottish Parliament. We held a reception at parliament which focused on the positive impact of MS research happening in Scotland, and how we're working to stop MS.

We're delighted that over 100 MSPs backed our campaigning over the week. To all those that did we say thank you!