About
The Scottish Public Health Network is open to everyone in Scotland who has a professional interest or is involved in the wider public health agenda. This includes colleagues from across the NHS, local authorities, wider community partnerships, voluntary sector academia and beyond. Anybody who wishes to be part of ScotPHN where appropriate may do so to access and exchange public health intelligence across the system.
Participation is centred around specific national reporting groups, special interest groups and the evolving Public Health Action Teams (PHAcTs). Its previous role to identify and undertake ‘once for Scotland’ projects on behalf of the wider public health system no longer exists, however, the outputs from previous projects are available on this site.
In 2024 a review of the ScotPHN function will be undertaken in partnership. This will determine how best to serve the public health system in the future. In the short term, significant changes to the team and its capacity are underway.
Aims of ScotPHN:
- To undertake prioritised national pieces of work where there is a clearly identified and agreed need,
- To facilitate information exchange between public health practitioners, link with other networks and exchange learning across the public health system in Scotland,
- To enable effective communication amongst professionals and the public to allow efficient co-ordination of public health activity,
- To support and enhance the capabilities and functionality of the Scottish Directors of Public Health Group.
The ScotPHN work programme is generated from the public health community in Scotland.
Infrastructure
ScotPHN operates within Public Health Scotland and is also accountable to the Directors of Public Health.
Governance
ScotPHN’s governance arrangements are currently under review.
ScotPHN provides the support to:
- Scottish Directors of Public Health Group
- Consultants in Dental Public Health and Chief Administrative Dental Officers Group
- Scottish Health Promotion Managers Group
- Various National Special Interest Groups
- National initiatives