Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government works closely with the Centre for Sustainable Delivery (CfSD) to support delivery of improvement programmes, including the Urgent and Unscheduled Care collaborative, to ensure sustainable ways of delivering services, improving access for patients, and reducing unnecessary demand for services. While we monitor progress through discussion with CFSD and NHS Boards, we will provide updates on progress against specific pathways in our NHS Recovery Plan annual update.

Following open competition, the Picker Institute has been awarded the contract to evaluate the Redesign of Urgent Care pathway. The cost of the project was £90,000 and final report will be published on the Scottish Government website in the summer.

The Programme Delivery Board last met on 31 January 2024. The Board discussed the Programme’s progress to date, including an update on the status of the NCS Bill and subsequent planning across the programme for 2024.

Working with the other UK governments, the Scottish Government is introducing packaging Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) from October 2025. Packaging EPR will see producers taking financial responsibility for the full net cost of responsible management of their packaging, including plastic packaging, at end-of-life. This will create a strong incentive for producers to reduce their use of packaging and drive more sustainable design choices.

As part of this process, the four governments meet regularly with industry representatives, including retailers, to discuss their perspectives on these proposals. A new packaging EPR Scheme Administrator Steering Group has been set up, with retailer representation, recognising industry’s significant role in delivery of the scheme; the first meeting of this group was on 2 February 2024.

The Scottish Government is working with the other UK governments to legislate to introduce extended producer responsibility (EPR) for packaging. Among other benefits, this will create a strong incentive for producers to reduce their use of packaging and drive more sustainable design choices.

The main legislation for packaging EPR will be a Westminster SI, with supporting legislation in Scotland where required. The draft text of this SI was made available for public consultation from 28 July 2023 to 9 October 2023 and is available online at the following link: Draft producer responsibility obligations (packaging and packaging waste) regulations - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk

Patient safety is of paramount concern and the Health Board has been clear that the interim ICU plans, first announced in February 2023, are to ensure adequate consultant medical cover; thereby maintaining the safety and sustainability of local critical care services.

The last meeting of the Nursing and Midwifery Taskforce was held on the 6 December 2023 and was chaired by myself. The next meeting is scheduled for the 13 March 2024.

The NCS TOM reference group last met on the 19 May 2022. The meeting was a workshop focused on review of the current system and potential options for future systems. Consideration was given at this meeting to the potential approaches for the structure of the NCS.

Health and Social Care Management Board (HSCMB) last met on‎ 24 January 2024, and it discussed strategic, tactical, and operational matters which contribute to the delivery of health and care service across Scotland.

Health and Social Care Assurance Board (HSCAB) last met on‎ 8 November 2023. At this meeting, the Co-Director of Social Care and NCS Development, provided an update on the progress of the National Care Service.

The Scottish Workforce and Staff Governance Committee last met on 24 January 2024.

Meeting minutes will be published once agreed. These will be available to view at Scottish Workforce & Staff Governance (SWAG) Committee Agenda and Minutes — NHS Scotland Staff Governance