NATIONAL SEXUAL HEALTH ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Minutes of the ninth meeting held on Monday 4 February 2008, Committee Room 1, Victoria Quay.
Present
Members
Ms Shona Robison MSP, Minister for Public Health (Chair)
Professor Peter Donnelly, Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Scottish Government (Deputy Chair)
Dr Nil Banerjee, Consultant in Genito-urinary Medicine
Dr Jenny Bennison, Royal College of General Practitioners
Alison Bigrigg, Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists
Jim Chalmers, Information Services Division
Anna Glasier, Lead Clinicians, Sexual Health
Miranda Harvey, Scottish Parent Teacher Council
Hawys Kilday, Caledonia Youth
Roy Kilpatrick, HIV Scotland
Donald MacKay, Director of Education
Michael McGrath, Scottish Catholic Education Service
Christine McGuire, Association of Head Teachers
Fergus McMillan, LGBT Youth Scotland
Mike Massaro-Mallinson, Healthy Respect
Andrew Philip, Church of Scotland
Daniel Wight, Medical Research Council
Shirley Fraser, NHS Health Scotland
In attendance:
Jason Annetts, University of Abertay
Major Jenny Campbell, Public and Health Substance Misuse Division (PHSM), Scottish Government
Mary Cuthbert, PHSM, Scottish Government
Theodora Kwansa, University of Abertay
Jan Law, University of Abertay
Louise Melville, Specialist Registrar
Dona Milne, PHSM, Scottish Government
Cheryl Paris, PHSM, Scottish Government
Vijay Patel, Education Directorate, Scottish Government
David Pattison, Specialist Public Health Adviser, CMO Directorate, Scottish Government
Kirsty Simpson, Specialist Registrar
Apologies:
Eric Baijal
Fiona Mackenzie
Sharon Ogilvie-Whyte
David Sutherland
Angela Timoney
Agenda Item 1: Welcome and introduction
1. Ms Robison welcomed the members to the ninth meeting of NSHAC, particularly welcoming Mike Massaro-Mallinson who attended for the first time representing Healthy Respect and Fergus McMillan, representing LGBT Youth Scotland.
2. The Members noted that Ms Robison had suspended Mr Jamie Rennie from the Committee pending the results of a criminal investigation.
3. Ms Robison also welcomed the members of the review team, who would present the near final findings of the stock taking review of Respect and Responsibility.
4. The members noted both the following events which had occurred since the last meeting of the committee and future work :
· On 14 November the Scottish Government published its spending plans for the next 3 years. These plans underlined the Scottish Ministers continuing commitment to sexual health and spending plans included continuation of the sexual health funding of £5.18 million each year for the next 3 financial years. Also, an additional £1 million over two years had been allocated to increase access to independent sexual health information.
· On 12 December 2007 the Scottish Government published Better Health, Better Care Action Plan which sets out a programme to deliver a healthier Scotland. The Action Plan acknowledged sexual health as one of the main strands in meeting the health inequalities agenda.
· As reflected in Better Health, Better Care, the Scottish Government had rebalanced the way in which it approaches performance management. The result of this rebalance meant that there was no longer a HEAT Target for teenage pregnancy. However, the targets for teenage pregnancy set out in Respect and Responsibility remained for health boards and their partners.
· On 16 January, the second Annual Report of Respect and Responsibility was launched in NHS Borders.
· The Education and Training Report and the Remote and Rural report submitted at earlier meetings had been considered by officials and fed into the stock taking review. The recommendations contained within the Education and Training report for particular agencies would be fed into these agencies work plans for the coming year. It had also been agreed that the remote and rural report would be distributed to the directors of Public Health and policy colleagues throughout the Scottish Government.
(Action: Secretariat)
· The terms of appointment for the membership of the Committee were on a three year basis which would come to an end in June 2008. A review of the membership would therefore take place in light of the outcome of the stock taking review to ensure that the committee has the correct balance of interest within the membership. Members were encouraged to indicate to the secretariat whether they wished to be considered for re-appointment.
(Action: NSHAC)
Ms Robison handed the Chair to Professor Peter Donnelly.
Agenda Item 2: Note of the Eighth Meeting
5. The note of the eighth meeting was agreed subject to the following amendments:
· Fiona McKenzie to be added to the list of attendees.
(Action: Secretariat)
· Michael McGrath raised concern that the minutes of the eighth meeting suggested that denominational schools did not provide SRE which covered all sexualities. He asked that the minutes be changed to reflect that appropriate SRE is provided to all pupils in denominational schools.
(Action: Secretariat)
Matters Arising
6. All members had been updated on the current position with regards to HPV.
7. As was mentioned in the opening remarks, the Education and Training report and the Remote and Rural report had been fed into the stock taking review.
Agenda Item 3: Respect and Responsibility - Stock Taking Review
8. Jason Annetts presented the findings of the stock taking review of Respect and Responsibility to the Group. Presentation attached.
9. The main recommendations from the review are outlined below:
· A need to maintain clinical focus - together with raising the profile of social and cultural strands.
· A need to maintain national Ministerial leadership - reconsidering the membership of NSHAC and the Lead Clinicians group.
· Clarity is required over funding decisions which are made at a local level - clarity over whether the additional funding of £5.18 million will be long term.
· Better communication between statutory, voluntary and faith organisations.
· It would be helpful to identify resources to enable robust monitoring and evaluation to take place at a local level.
· A need to share and facilitate the sharing of best practice.
· A need to clarify education's role and to look beyond schools with regards to educational opportunities.
· Look towards developing a social marketing campaign and a communications campaign for sexual health
10. A wide ranging discussion followed, with particular focus on how to engage more effectively with education colleagues while recognising that parents and lifelong learning were equally as important as sex and relationships education in schools.
11. The Group agreed that while it had been important for the additional funds which accompanied the launch of the strategy to focus on developing clinical services; it was now the time to re-focus some of our efforts on the social and cultural strands of the strategy.
12. It was also agreed that it was important to not lose sight of the funding which was already in the system for sexual health services prior to the launch of Respect and Responsibility.
Agenda Item 4: Closed discussion for NSHAC members
Agenda Item 5: Progress report and recommendations of current NSHAC actions
13. Dona Milne asked the members to consider paper NSHAC (2008) 49. As it was now 3 years since the strategy was published, the sexual health team had reviewed the progress made on meeting the actions which NSHAC was set in Respect and Responsibility. The members noted that a further report on other NSHAC actions and those allocated to Scottish Government Directorates and national special health boards would be presented at the committee meeting in June.
14. The members agreed that they were happy in principle with the paper and the overall approach.
15. Dona Milne also reminded the members that the Stock Taking Review would report to the Scottish Government in March 2008, and that the results of the Review together with future priorities for funding and new performance management arrangements would be discussed at an event on 13 March 2008 at Herriot Watt University.
16. The Members noted that the full report of the review would contain detailed quantitative data as well as qualitative.
17. Professor Donnelly reminded the Members that a review of the committee's membership would be undertaken and that members should contact the secretariat to indicate whether they wished to remain as members.
(Action: NSHAC)
Agenda Item 6: Any other business
18. Professor Glasier raised concerns that there was still no PGD for emergency hormonal contraception even though the initial agreement to have one had happened a year previously.
Professor Donnelly noted her concern and asked the secretariat to follow this up.
(Action: Secretariat)
Agenda Item 7: Date of next meeting
19. The members noted that the following meeting would take place on 16 June 2008 in Conference Room 1, Victoria Quay with the following meeting taking place on 6 October 2008.
NSHAC Secretariat
March 2008