The National Sexual Health (NaSH) IT system is being rolled out to support specialist sexual health services, and enable clinicians to build a nationwide picture of sexual ill health, behaviours and attitudes.

It will go live in two boards this month, NHS Lanarkshire and NHS Ayrshire and Arran, before being gradually rolled out across the country.

NaSH will link around 1,500 staff working in 200 sexual health sites that currently treat around 400,000 patients a year, a figure NHS Scotland expects to grow by up to 30 per cent in the next five years.

NaSH chairwoman Dr Alison Bigrigg said: ‘Before NaSH there was no standard approach to the gathering of information. Statistical, clinical, patient and administrative information across sexual health services was hard to obtain and share, and holding paper records in isolated locations was not conducive to delivering a fast and convenient health service.'

nick.bostock@haymarket.com

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