Meetings Relating to Medical ACT

Medical ACT Governance Group (MAGG)

The overarching role of the Medical Act Governance Group is the governance of Medical Additional Costs of Teaching (ACT) funding within NHS Scotland. It is through the MAGG that the Medical Directorate Quality and Safety Group (MDQ-SG), Medical Directorate Apex Group (MDAG), Educational & Research Governance Committee (ERGC) and NES Board are assured that NES is fulfilling its responsibility for the provision of Medical ACT funding to support the costs of teaching medical students in the NHS and for the performance management of the use of this funding.  

The role of the MAGG is to: Have oversight of the use of Medical ACT and distribution of Medical ACT funds. 

This will include: 

  • Oversight of the management of the Medical ACT model and distribution of funding. 

  • Oversight of the performance management of processes to ensure Medical ACT funding delivers value for money and quality teaching.  

  • Liaison with groups within Medical ACT infrastructure especially Medical ACT working Group (MAWG) but also including other relevant groups (e.g. Regional ACT Working Groups, Medical ACT Officers (MACTO) meeting) to support the provision of undergraduate medical education in Scotland. 

  • The submission to MDQ-SG with updates in February, May and October detailing the work of the MAGG.   

MAWG

This meeting has currently been paused due to ongoing Stakeholder Engagement sessions.

The MAWG is an advisory group reporting to NES. The Group does not have any executive or decision making powers. The group’s role is to advise NES on all aspects of Medical ACT and undergraduate medical education within the NHS. The group also provides a forum for stakeholders to consider relevant issues in the development of high quality medical education. The aim is to improve communication on undergraduate teaching activities and ACT matters and increase stakeholder engagement across all key stakeholders.

Medical ACT Officers (MACTO)

The Medical ACT Officers (MACTO) Group has an operational role and considers a wide range of issues in relation to the management of Medical ACT. The Group is chaired by the NES Medical ACT Manager and includes the Medical ACT Officers from each Regional Group and the ScotGEM programme.  The main work of the Group is to discuss and support the implementation of process changes, policy development from the Medical ACT Working Group (MAWG) & Medical ACT Governance Group (MAGG). The Group, through the work of the Medical ACT Officers, also actively co-ordinates work across the Regional ACT Working Groups. 

Regional ACT Working Groups (RAWGS)

Originally five Regional ACT Working Groups (RAWGs) were set up in 2007 to support the management of Medical ACT. These groups were designed to bring stakeholders involved in the management of the delivery of undergraduate clinical teaching by NHS Boards within each Medical School area. A sixth Group was set up to support the ScotGEM programme in 2018. The new Edinburgh HCP-Med for Healthcare Professionals programme set up in 2020, sits within the scope of the Edinburgh Regional ACT Working Group. 

Whilst each RAWG has developed its own specific terms of reference and different ways of working, the overall roles and responsibilities of all regional groups remain similar, to support the work cycles and activities in line with NES deadlines. 

Roles & responsibilities of RAWGs: 

  • To support the strategy for undergraduate medical education including clinical teaching in secondary and primary care developed by medical schools / programmes 

  • To approve the use of additional Medical ACT funds 

  • To review the data collected as part of the quality management process of undergraduate clinical placements 

  • To review annual accountability reports from Local Education Providers 

  • To provide a forum to discuss priorities for future development of undergraduate medical education for the Medical School / Programme within the region 

  • To support Boards’ ‘Local ACT Groups’ or analogous local undergraduate teaching meetings and to receive from these groups the minutes of their meetings and to ensure that any requests for additional ACT funding satisfy the financial governance requirements around use of Medical ACT funding. 

  • Where the amount of teaching within a Board area does not warrant a ‘Local ACT Group’ or analogous meeting, the RAWG should ensure that an appropriate opportunity is available each year to discuss medical undergraduate teaching within each Board.  

  • To interact with NES and other regional groups via the Medical ACT Working Group (MAWG) to ensure a consistent approach across Scotland 

  • To anticipate future risks to delivery of undergraduate medical education in Health Boards and primary care 

Major Investments Group (MIG)

The Major Investments Group aims to do the following:

  • To recommend the level of funding set aside for major capital and revenue investments each financial year. 

  • To receive and prioritise funding requests from placement partner Boards related to key clinical infrastructure areas, such as residential accommodation, teaching facilities, IT and equipment which cannot be funded through boards allocations. 

  • To ensure that bids for Medical ACT funding received from partner Boards comply with NES guidance and Scottish Government requirements. 

  • To ensure effective financial controls and governance are in place. 

  • To review and make recommendations in respect of any high value Board business cases from the Medical ACT budget which cannot be funded through Boards annual allocations. 

  • To provide a formal communication channel between Health Boards and Universities in respect of the longer-term investment requirements. 

MDQ-SG

The Medical Directorate Quality &Safety Group  aims to align workstreams to the NES strategy and consider areas of improvement within quality management and training programmes. 

Ensuring the outputs and actions align to the NES Mission of developing and delivering a skilled sustainable workforce for a healthier Scotland.