The Scottish Government

The Chief Nursing Officer Directorate is headed by Paul Martin , who is also interim Director for Health Workforce. In this role he advises Ministers on all matters relating to nursing, midwifery and the allied health professions. In March 2005, Paul also took on the role of Interim Director for Health Workforce.

CNO Directorate provides policy and professional practice advice on all issues relating to nursing, midwifery, Allied Health Professions (AHP) and Health Care Scientists. It develops, implements and evaluates policy on education and training, regulation, modernising NMAHP careers, leadership, recruitment and retention, patient experience, e-Health, mental health, children and midwifery services. It also provides professional leadership to the NMAHP and Healthcare Scientists professions in Scotland working closely with the professional bodies and NHS managers.

The Directorate is also responsible for,

• Clean Hospitals including Healthcare Acquired Infection
• The National Programme for Patience Experience and
• The provision of advice to Ministers on cross-professional regulation and workforce standards for both the regulated and unregulated workforce

It also ensures an effective contribution to the international fora including the Scotland/Malawi Initiative.The Directorate is working on a number of key areas of development including,

• Implementation of Delivering Care, Enabling Health
• Implementation of the Delivery Framework For Adult Rehabilitation
• Implementation of 'Visible, Accessible and Integrated Care' - the new model for nursing in the community
• Implementation in Scotland of 'Trust, Assurance and Safety - The Regulation of Health Professionals in the 21 st Century', including regulation of professions currently unregulated
• Aiding recruitment and retention of NMAHPs including workforce and workload planning and contributing to the development of sustainable clinical teams
• Developing Modernising Nursing and AHP Careers and including the development of an Advanced Practice Toolkit and Early Clinical Career Fellowships
• Oversee the development of standards and policies on antimicrobial prescribing, hand hygiene, HAI education and training, surveillance, risk management, hospital cleaning and the National MRSA Control Strategy
• Supporting the delivery of national targets and imperatives underpinned through NMAHP expertise, such as waiting times, service redesign and new roles to deliver sustainable services such as unscheduled care, hospital at night, improved diagnostic access
• Supporting the development and clinical practice of children and young peoples nurses in Scotland
• Developing midwifery practice by facilitation of the implementation of the Keeping Childbirth Natural and Dynamic (KIND) programme and providing professional midwifery leadership

The Directorate is structured into three divisions including:

• Deputy Chief Nursing Officer
• Chief Health Professions Officer
• Policy and Business Support Units

Topics

Topics contain more information on the policies and initiatives undertaken by the Scottish Government. They act as a background to the work of directorates.

• Nursing