Surrey County Council (SCC) has confirmed that a new shadow health and wellbeing board has been established in a bid to improve local public health services and accountability.

The local authority is one of the first in the country to set up the new group, which is to form part of the proposed national shake up of the NHS led by the Department of Health. Councillors, GPs and health officials are among the members of the board, which met for the first time last month and will give SCC greater responsibility for local healthcare services.

All local authorities will be required to have a health and wellbeing board by 2013. The new Surrey board will act in a "shadow" advisory capacity until then.