As a regional Managed Clinical Network (MCN) the West of
Scotland network is funded via Regional Planning, with all Boards
paying a share of the costs.
"Managed Clinical Networks are groups of health professionals
and organisations working together in a manner unconstrained by
professional and health board boundaries to ensure equitable
provision of high quality, clinically effective services."
The aim of the West of Scotland Sexual Health MCN is to support
the continuous development and improvement of sexual health
services in our five member NHS Boards, namely:-
- NHS Ayrshire & Arran
- NHS Dumfries & Galloway
- NHS Forth Valley
- NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde
- NHS Lanarkshire
In 2012 we have formed a partnership with NHS Cumbria who have
joined the MCN as associate members
The Steering Group (twice yearly) is chaired by Dr Iain Wallace,
Medical Director in NHS Forth Valley and has equal representation
from each of the member Boards. Other co-opted members are drawn
from National Bodies and Regional Planning. The remit of the group
is the strategic development of sexual health and implementing the
lessons from the MCN.
The MCN Co-ordinating group brings together the five sexual
health lead clinicians and the MCN Manager with other membership as
dictated by the work programme. This is the key decision making
body for the MCN.
Work Programme
With the publication of the QIS Standards for Sexual Health in
2008, and the combined Sexual Health and Blood Borne Virus
Framework in 2011, challenges have been set for all NHS Boards
around improving services and ensuring equitable access.
The MCN seeks to support this by fostering a culture of regional
co-operation and looking for opportunities for joint working to
make most effective use of resources. The work
The remit of the main three sub groups are as follows:
Clinical Guidelines: to agree and establish
regional clinical protocols and guidelines for sexual health,
ensuring a consistency of approach and best practice in all
services.
Training and Education: Supporting continuous
improvement in staff skills by looking at sharing training
resources across the member boards and establishing regional
competencies for key members of the sexual health team.
Audit and Clinical Information: Establishing a
regional programme of audit to monitor performance against the QIS
standards, and gather the key information to establish progress in
service improvement
For further information on the MCN including full information on
our workplan, please visit our website http://www.wossexualhealthmcn.org/
The MCN office can be reached on 0141-211-8135
or e-mail georgelaird@nhs.net
