The Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care Text was copied from this source, which is available under a
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© Crown copyright. ( gd, Rùnaire a’ Chaibineit airson Slàinte is Cùram Sòisealta), commonly referred to as the Health Secretary ( gd, Rùnaire na Slàinte), is a cabinet position in the Scottish Government. The Cabinet Secretary is responsible for the

Health and Social Care Directorates The Health and Social Care Directorates are a group of directorates of the Scottish Government. They are responsible for NHS Scotland, as well as policies on the development and implementation of health and social care. The Chief Executive of NH ...

and NHS Scotland. The current Cabinet Secretary is

Neil Gray Neil Charles Gray (born 16 March 1986) is a Scottish politician who has served as Minister for Culture, Europe and International Development since 2022. A member of the Scottish National Party (SNP), he has been the Member of the Scottish Parli ...

who has served since 8 February 2024. The Cabinet Secretary is assisted by:

History

The position was created in 1999 as the Minister for Health and Community Care, with the advent of devolution and the institution of the

Scottish Parliament The Scottish Parliament ( gd, Pàrlamaid na h-Alba ; sco, Scots Pairlament) is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. Located in the Holyrood area of the capital city, Edinburgh, it is frequently referred to by the metonym Holyro ...

, taking over some of the roles and functions of the former Scottish Office that existed prior to 1999. After the 2007 election the Ministerial position was renamed to the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing. After the 2011 election the full Ministerial title was Cabinet Secretary for Health, Wellbeing and Cities Strategy with the portfolio being expanded to include Cities Strategy which was part of the SNP manifesto to have a dedicated "Minister for Cities"; at the same time the responsibility for housing was removed and transferred to the new

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. Responsibilities for the cities strategy and the delivery of the

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in Glasgow were later transferred to other members of the cabinet. After the

2016 election The following elections occurred in the year 2016. Africa Benin Republic *2016 Beninese presidential election 6 March 2016 Cape Verde * 2016 Cape Verdean presidential election 2 October 2016 Chad * 2016 Chadian presidential election 10 A ...

, the name of the post was changed to simply Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport. In the 2021 cabinet reshuffle, the post was retitled to Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care. First Minister

Humza Yousaf Humza Haroon Yousaf (born 7 April 1985) is a Scottish politician serving as Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care since 2021. He is the first non-white and first Muslim cabinet minister in the Scottish Government. A member of the Sco ...

retitled the role as Cabinet Secretary for NHS Recovery, Health and Social Care, appointing Michael Matheson in March 2023 then

in February 2024. Upon the formation of the Swinney government, the post was reverted to its previous Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care title.

Overview

Responsibilities

The responsibilities of the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care include: *acute services *allied healthcare services *centre of excellence for rural and remote medicine and social care *community care *eHealth *health and social care integration *health improvement and protection *NHS estate *NHS performance *patient services and patient safety *person-centred care *primary care and GPs *quality and improvement *unscheduled care *workforce, training, planning, and pay

Public bodies and Directorates

The following public bodies and directorates report to the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care: * NHS Scotland * Care Inspectorate *

Healthcare Improvement Scotland Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) is the national healthcare improvement organisation for Scotland. It is a Scottish public body, public body which is part of the Scottish National Health Service, created in April 2011. History NHS Quality I ...

Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland The Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland is a non-departmental public body, responsible for safeguarding the rights and welfare of people in Scotland with a learning disability, mental illness or other mental disorder. The Commission was origi ...

Scottish Social Services Council The Scottish Social Services Council is responsible for raising standards in the country's social service Social services are a range of public services intended to provide support and assistance towards particular groups, which commonly incl ...

* Sportscotland Directorates *Chief Medical Officer Directorate *Chief Nursing Officer Directorate *Chief Operating Officer, NHS Scotland Directorate *Digital Health and Care Directorate *Health Workforce Directorate *Health and Social Care Finance, Digital and Governance Directorate *Healthcare Quality and Improvement Directorate *Mental Health Directorate *Population Health Directorate *Primary Care Directorate *Social Care and National Care Service Development

List of office holders

References

External links

Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport
on Scottish Government website Cabinet Secretary posts of the Scottish Government {{Scotland-gov-stub