The Scottish Government

This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007

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Sexual Health Advisory Committee

15/06/2005

The membership of the National Sexual Health Advisory Committee which will have a crucial role in delivering the sexual health action plan launched earlier this year was announced today.

Health Minister Andy Kerr also announced that Health Boards have been allocated £4.5 million for 2005-06 to support the implementation of the strategy.

Before the sexual health debate in Parliament, he said:

"I am pleased to announce the membership of the national advisory committee.

"The committee will have a pivotal role in monitoring progress of the Strategy and most importantly will help support implementation of the Action Plan.

"I see the Committee's work coming under three broad headings - promotion of a culture of respect and responsibility, prevention and reduction of sexually transmitted infections and unintended pregnancies and provision of better services.

"These themes encompass all of the actions in the remit we set out for the committee in Scotland's first sexual health strategy.

The interim plans from all NHS Boards set out a number of ways to improve services for patients.

"They include additional specialist nursing and medical posts and associated training programmes, integrated family planning and GUM services with outreach services that meet patient needs locally. And targeted approaches such as increased STI testing and specific user services, for example psychosexual services and more youth clinics.

"The investment of an additional £4.5 million funding will help deliver these plans. The objective is to provide a sexual health service that is fit for the 21st century."

Mr Kerr concluded:

"Scotland's poor sexual health is not something that has occurred recently, and indeed it is not an easy issue for a lot of people to talk about.

"We have made good progress but we will not sort these issues of poor communication and attitudes, inaccessible and inappropriate services, and lack of knowledge and skills overnight. This is the start of a long journey but I am confident that we can move forward with speed and purpose."

The membership of the Sexual Health Advisory Committee is:

• Chair Andy Kerr Minister for Health and Community Care
• Mary Allison, NHS Health Scotland
• Irene Bain, Scottish Partnership Forum
• Dr Alison Bigrigg, Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists
• Shirley Fraser, NHS Health Scotland
• Professor David Goldberg, Health Protection Scotland
• Miranda Harvey, Scottish Parent Teacher Council
• Shehla Ihsan, REACH Community Health Project, Glasgow (individual nominee)
• Hawys Kilday, Caledonia Youth
• Myra Lamont, Royal College of Nursing
• James Leggat, Head Teachers Association
• Dr Lesley MacDonald, Directors of Public Health
• Michael McGrath, Scottish Catholic Education Service
• Dona Milne, Healthy Respect
• Wendy Peacock, Health Promotion Managers
• Fraser Sanderson, Education and Community Services, Dumfries and Galloway Council (individual nominee)
• Dr Mairi Scott, Royal College of General Practitioners
• Dr David Sutherland, NHS Education for Scotland
• Angela Timoney, Royal Pharmaceutical Society (Scotland)
• Dianna Wolfson, Scottish Interfaith Council

Members nominated by Voluntary Health Scotland:

• Hilary Campbell, Director, Couple Counselling Scotland
• Roy Kilpatrick, Chief Executive, HIV Scotland
• Tim Street, Director, Family Planning Association Scotland

Organisations that will be represented but we are awaiting a nomination: Association of Directors of Social Work Church of Scotland Equalities Co-ordinating Group (2 nominations).

Marian Flynn, Teenage Pregnancy Co-ordinator, Glasgow Healthy Cities Partnership has been nominated as an individual member and has intimated her provisional acceptance.

Medical Research Council NHS Chief Executives have been asked to nominate 1 Chief Executive, 1 Executive Director lead, 1 GUM consultant and 1 family planning specialist.

Scottish Youth Parliament

The group will meet for the first time on June 28.

The primary aim of the National Sexual Health Advisory Committee is to advise on policy, monitor and support implementation of Respect and Responsibility. As well as this role as the key strategic driver for Respect and Responsibility, the Committee will take forward the following specific actions:

• Review the needs of rural communities
• Review services and support for adult survivors of sexual abuse
• In conjunction with the Sexual Health and Wellbeing Learning Network, address the needs of those groups facing the greatest barriers to sexual wellbeing
• Recommend on further research on targeted learning interventions aimed at behaviour change in adults
• Seek to ensure that no-one is excluded from appropriate sexual health services, whatever their life circumstances, by means of a comprehensive equality and diversity impact assessment process, in line with the developing the SEHD/NHSScotland equality and diversity approach
• Together with NHS Health Scotland and the Scottish Executive develop a communications strategy for improving sexual health. This should include media campaigns medic advocacy and media literacy and link activities at national and local levels
• Regularly review progress of the Strategy complemented by a more comprehensive 5 - yearly review
• Offer advice on developing targets appropriate to this strategy
• Keep the HIV health promotion strategy under review to ensure its continuing relevance
• Consider the proposals developed by Health Protection Scotland for potential adoption as a national data collection framework
• Offer advice on a sexual health research programme for Scotland in partnership with key policy, research and practice stakeholders in Scotland and elsewhere
• Consider how best to build on current good practice in school based sex and relationships education in Scotland consistent with the principles of the McCabe report

In January the Minister announced an additional £15 million over three years to support the delivery of the sexual health strategy and action plan. £4.5 million has now been allocated to NHS Boards using the Arbuthnott formula. The breakdown of funding for NHS Boards is:

NHS Boards will submit more detailed service deliver plans by the end of September 2005. Once these have been analysed the rest of the additional fundingof £10 million will be made available.