Officials met for the first-time last month, as the Health Secretary confirms the Care and Wellbeing Portfolio established to oversee the recovery and redesign of health services is still in development.

Audit Scotland says the Scottish government’s Care and Wellbeing Portfolio will set the strategic direction for health and social care in Scotland.

The auditors say it has ‘promising potential’ to help NHS Scotland become more sustainable, but the new group is still in its early days. Additionally, the auditors say more detail is needed on how it will achieve its ‘challenging’ goals in integrated and preventative care.

Humza Yousaf told the Scottish parliament’s Health, Social Care and Sport Committee at an evidence session earlier this month that work on the portfolio had been affected by the pandemic, and its approach is still being developed.

Mr Yousaf told MSPs:

“We are clear that the work of the care and wellbeing portfolio must be broader than just healthcare, and that how it interacts with other portfolios and other departments in government will be crucial.

“As well as prevention, the care and wellbeing portfolio will also have a big focus on innovation and on developing infrastructure that can drive efficiency and productivity within our health and care systems.”

In a letter sent later to the committee, Mr Yousaf said the portfolio will focus on communities and fair work, children’s health and wellbeing, and climate change and net zero ‘to maximise reach across government and align with the Covid Recovery Strategy’.

The letter also reveals the Director for the Scottish Covid-19 Test & Trace Programme, Christine McLaughlin, is a co-chair alongside the Director of Covid Public Health, Richard Foggo.

Among their responsibilities will be the oversight of financial, service and workforce planning, as well as capital investment, across health and care.

Its four programmes of work will focus on: place and wellbeing, preventative and proactive care, integrated planned care, and integrated unscheduled and urgent care programme, with the main goal of reducing inequality.

The health secretary says engagement with local government will begin in the following weeks. The portfolio members met for the second time last week.

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