Discussions are currently taking place to secure the appointment of a nurse consultant on each NHS board.

The NHS board is NHS Lanarkshire.

NHS boards and local authorities will be required to produce integrated budgets for older people's services, which the Scottish government believes will end "cost-shunting", under which older people often end up remaining in hospital for longer than necessary.

The NHS board is NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.

He made a concession on timing, saying that the NHS commissioning board will be available to run an area's commissioning where GP consortia are not ready by April 2013.

Organisations including the Royal College of General Practitioners, the British Medical Association, the NHS commissioning board and relevant patient bodies should be invited by the DH to work on the plan.

- The mandate between the secretary of state and the NHS commissioning board should include stipulations for the board to take integrated care seriously.

When the boundaries were redrawn, NHS Argyll & Clyde amalgamated into the new NHS board known as Greater Glasgow and Clyde.

The programme is designed to support NHS boards, frontline staff and patients in driving forward service improvement.

The 'success' of new-style NHS boards will be similarly dependent on preparations for members' responsibilities and appropriate support.