Constitution and terms of reference

1. The network is known as the UK Clinical Mycology Network, or UKCMN.
2. The aim of the UKCMN is to ensure the provision of the highest quality services in clinical mycology and related disciplines throughout the UK.
3. The UKCMN provides a centrally managed structure for the UK-wide coordination of mycology service delivery, mycological surveillance, medical and laboratory training, diagnostic development and translational research.
4. Membership of the UKCMN is free, and open to centres that provide clinical mycology services, as defined separately by the UKCMN.
5. Membership of the UKCMN entitles representatives of member centres to attend the UKCMN annual meeting, to receive UKCMN publications and other output and to be able to declare affiliation with the UKCMN and use the logo on their communications alongside their stated level of service.
6. There is no specified maximum number of UKCMN centres.
7. The UKCMN consists of a Steering Committee and a Management Group.
   The Steering Committee consists of a representative from the HPA Mycology Reference Laboratory and a representative from each of the Specialist and Regional Centres 1 and reflects the UKCMN role in advising the Health Protection Agency (see 14). It also include an ex-officio representative from the HPA Centre for Infections, HPA Regional Microbiology Network, Executive Committee Member from the British Society for Medical Mycology (BSMM) and ordinary members comprising a least 2 clinicians, a healthcare scientist with a specialist interest in medical mycology. The ordinary members may or may not be representatives of the Network Specialist and Regional Centres.
8. The Management Group consists of five members drawn from representatives of the regional centres, the HPA Mycology Reference Laboratory head and the Chair.
9. The work of the UKCMN and inclusion/appointment of new centres is agreed by the Network Steering Committee, which will meet 2 times a year and will be supported financially by the HPA. Continuation and management of the work agreed by the Steering Committee will be overseen by the Management Group which will meet an additional two times a year, also supported by the HPA.
10. The Steering Committee and Management Group will be chaired by a single chairperson elected from within the Committee. Elections for the post of chairperson will be held every three years.
11. UKCMN member centres at Specialist Centre level and upwards have the option to be represented at the Network Steering Committee meetings by Healthcare Scientists, Medical Microbiologists or members of other professions, who work in those laboratories. Initially, due to budgetary constraints representation at meetings from Specialist centres should not exceed five centres and invitation to meetings will be on a rolling basis agreed by the Steering Committee. Member centres may choose their representative by whatever method(s) they consider to be appropriate.
12. Centres which fail to meet the criteria for membership at a certain level can still apply at this level if they plan to implement all criteria within a year of application. However, membership for these centres will be classed as "provisional" until all criteria are met, and for purposes of fielding a representative, they shall be considered belonging to the level below which they are provisionally assigned. E.g. a provisional Specialist centre would be viewed as a Local centre and would not have representation on the Steering Committee
13. Individual representatives will have equal say in the decisions of the Network Steering Committee. Where consensus is not reached decisions will be made by ballot, with each representative casting a single vote. Where ballots are inconclusive the chairperson will have the casting vote.
14. The Network is responsible for defining different levels of mycology provision, liaison between mycology centres, development of Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) and/or Examination procedures (EP), specification of recommended test repertoires, development of mycology training programmes, funding initiatives, organisation of the UKCMN annual meeting and, setting an annual programme of activities and maintaining an HPA supported website to publicise the activities of the UKCMN
15. The Network also has the role of advising the Health Protection Agency on fungal disease - specifically:
    • To keep under review the current status of fungal infections and their management in England and Wales
    • To advise the relevant HPA programme lead on appropriate research, development and surveillance work which might be undertaken
    • To advise the relevant HPA programme lead on those reference and diagnostic service facilities which might most appropriately be offered at local, regional or national level by the Health Protection Agency.
16. The Network aims to establish working relationships with a number of organisations whose aims are relevant to the continuing provision of a high quality clinical mycology service, including the Health Protection Agency (HPA), United Kingdom National External Quality Assessment Service (UKNEQAS) (Mycology, Serology and Anti-fungal), Clinical Pathology Accreditation (CPA) and the European Committee on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing (EUCAST).
17. The Network will organise an annual meeting with the aim of providing practical help and advice to UKCMN members. The annual meeting is a discussion forum which may include early provision of surveillance data, publication of the UKCMN annual programme, summary of the previous year's work, publication of UKCMN SOP/EP algorithms and steering committee elections.
18. The UKCMN annual meeting will be open to all, and currently runs adjacent to the annual scientific meeting of the British Society for Medical Mycology (BSMM).
    

¹ The current membership of the Steering Committee consisted of representatives from Bristol, Leeds, London, Manchester, Cardiff, The International Foundation for Dermatology, the HPA Regional Mycology Network and the HPA Centre for Infections, namely Dr E. Johnson, Dr R. Hobson, Dr C. Kibbler, Dr D. Denning, Dr Rosemary Barnes, Professor Rod Hay, Dr Jim Wade, and Dr Theresa Lamagni.