Scotland’s new combined public health agency officially comes into being today. Public Health Scotland combines teams from NHS Health Scotland, Health Protection Scotland and ISD, the NHS Scotland information and data gathering organisation.

It has been set up as a national lead agency and will be overseen jointly by the Scottish government and the local government organisation, COSLA.

Health Protection Scotland and NHS Health Scotland, so-called special NHS boards responsible for health promotion and health protection respectively, have been at the centre of NHS Scotland’s response to covid-19.

The organisation going live is a significant milestone in the Scottish government’s long-running programme to reform health and well-being by bringing together national and local government to reduce inequalities and improve health and well-being of individuals and communities.

The organisation is to be headed up by Angela Leitch, formerly chief executive of East Lothian council.

At the time of her appointment Scotland’s Minister for Public Health, Joe FitzPatrick said he looked forward to her helping achieve the ambition to strengthen the role and contribution of Scotland’s councils and local partnerships to work alongside the three NHS organisations:

“Our ultimate aim is to improve the health of the population and to reduce the unacceptable variation in life expectancy that exists across Scotland.

“The new body will work with and be accountable to both national and local government and I’m looking forward to working closely with Angela as we tackle Scotland’s major public health challenges and deliver improvements for communities across the country.”