Common Services Agency designation

The Scottish Ministers hereby designate, in addition to Public Health Scotland, the Common Services Agency (constituted under section 10 of the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978) as a UK public health agency in relation to Scotland under regulation 3 of the Health Security (EU Exit) Regulations 2021, insofar as it carries out the following functions:

• surveillance and monitoring of infections and antimicrobial resistance to assess their impact on health
• infection prevention and control and antimicrobial resistance advice and horizon scanning
• preparation and response to healthcare-associated infection outbreaks and incidents

in relation to 'related special health matters' as defined in the Health Security (EU Exit) Regulations 2021.

Background

The Health Security (EU Exit) Regulations 2021 (2021 Regulations) sets out how the four nations continue to coordinate their approach to the surveillance, prevention and control of serious cross-border threats to health. This will ensure the UK can meet its health security obligations under the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA), as well as comply with International Health Regulations.

The 2021 Regulations state that the 'UK public health agency' in relation to Scotland is Public Health Scotland (PHS).  However, there are requirements under the 2021 Regulations involving surveillance and sharing of information including related special health matters (antimicrobial resistance and healthcare associated infections related to communicable diseases) which under the 2021 Regulations only Public Health Scotland are currently required to do.  The responsibility for the functions in relation to special health matters lies with NHS National Services Scotland (NSS) Antimicrobial Resistance and Healthcare Associated Infection (ARHAI).  NHS National Services Scotland is the common name of the Common Services Agency for the Scottish Health Service. Currently under the 2021 Regulations NSS ARHAI is not specified as a UK public health agency or as a member of the UK Health Protection Committee and this is a significant gap in representation from Scotland.

In order for Scotland to fulfil its requirements under the Regulations to conduct epidemiological surveillance on a list of communicable diseases and related special health matters and share comparable and compatible data arising from their surveillance with each other, the Common Services Agency in relation to “special health matters” require to be designated as a UK public health body in addition to Public Health Scotland, under regulation 3 of the Health Security (EU Exit) Regulations 2021.

Daniel Kleinberg
Deputy Director
Population Health Protection and Resilience Division
Population Health Directorate
Scottish Government