healthscotland.com

NHS Health Scotland supports the implementation of the Sexual Health Strategy and the HIV Action Plan in four important areas.

Advances our understanding of Scotland's sexual health and wellbeing

NHS Health Scotland:

• Supports the evaluation of Healthy Respect (external link), a national health demonstration project on young people’s sexual health
• Provides input to commentaries on the Information Services Division’s Key Clinical Indicators (external link), Health Protection Scotland’s Annual Sexual Health Report (external link) and NHS Quality Improvement Scotland’s Standards on HIV (external link).
• Commissions research on the effectiveness of non clinical interventions.

Provides timely, specialist inputs to sexual health and wellbeing policy

NHS Health Scotland:

• Provides public and professional materials to promote longer-lasting contraception.
• Supports the development of national key messages and materials on HIV for use by NHS Boards and others on a Scotland wide basis.
• Supports the Scottish Government policy team and attendance at the Ministerial Group.

Increases the capacity and competence to deliver the Respect and Responsibility Outcomes and the HIV Action Plan

NHS Health Scotland:

• supports the sexual health lead clinicians group through quarterly meetings, the leadership programme, and facilitating input into policy initiatives.
• chairs the sexual health promotion specialists group through quarterly meetings, peer support and inputs to policy initiatives, for example the Curriculum for Excellence (external link) and the HIV Action Plan (2009-2014) (external link)
• updates the SHARE resource in light of new policy and legislation, for example the Rape and Sexual Offences Bill (external link) and the Curriculum for Excellence
• mainstreams sexual health in other programmes, for example the Gender Based Violence programme and the Walk the Talk initiative (external link) aimed at young people
• provides workplace resources to promote sexual wellbeing and highlight links between, for example, alcohol and sexual health, in conjunction with Scottish Centre for Healthy Working Lives (external link)
• redevelops patient sexual health leaflets on genital herpes, genital warts, gonorrhoea, chlamydia and vaginal health
• works with Learning and Teaching Scotland and The Scottish Government to produce guidance on how to reduce teenage pregnancy (external link).

Disseminates evidence, learning and good practice

NHS Health Scotland:

• offers free national and regional thematic events, monthly e-bulletins and evidence briefings through the WISH network
• shares learning from Healthy Respect (leaflets, presentations and technical reports) and explores how wider sexual health work can mainstream some of the lessons
• provides the Scottish commentaries on NICE guidance
• develops a review of sexual health resources for parents, carers and professionals
• shares the results from the review of primary school sex and relationships education.

Reviewed 14 May 2010.