The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Primary and Public Health is a position in the

Department of Health and Social Care The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for government policy on health and adult social care matters in England, along with a few elements of the same matters which are not otherwis ...

in the

Government of the United Kingdom ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd , image = HM Government logo.svg , image_size = 220px , image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg , image_size2 = 180px , caption = Royal coat of arms of t ...

. The role has previously been known as the Minister of State for Public Health.

History

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Security worked at the

Department of Health and Social Security The Department of Health and Social Security (commonly known as the DHSS) was a ministry of the British government in existence for twenty years from 1968 until 1988, and was headed by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Services. His ...

. The future

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

John Major Sir John Major (born 29 March 1943) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1997, and as Member of Parliament ...

held this office. The office was known as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health from 1987 to 1990.

Nicola Blackwood Nicola Blackwood, Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford (born 16 October 1979) is a British politician of the Conservative Party. Baroness Blackwood was a Member of Parliament (MP) for Oxford West and Abingdon from 2010 to 2017. She has also been ...

lost her seat in the

snap Snap or SNAP may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Snap'', the original release title for the 2013 film ''Enter the Dangerous Mind'' *''Snap'' (TV series), a CITV programme * ''The Stanly News and Press'', a newspaper in Albemarle, North Carol ...

2017 general election and was replaced as a minister by

Steve Brine Steve Brine (born 28 January 1974) is a British politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Winchester (UK Parliament constituency), Winchester since 2010 United Kingdom general election ...

. During the

COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom The COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom is a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). In the United Kingdom, it has resulted in confir ...

, the minister was placed in charge of public health policy. The office of Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for COVID-19 Vaccine Deployment was created later and was held by

Nadhim Zahawi Nadhim Zahawi ( ar, ناظم الزهاوي, translit=Nāẓim az-Zahāwī; ku, نەدیم زەهاوی, translit=Nedîm Zehawî; born 2 June 1967) is an Iraqi-born British politician serving as Chairman of the Conservative Party and Minister ...

from 28 November 2020 to 15 September 2021. Zahawi was briefly

shadowed ''Shadowed'', also known as ''The Gloved Hand'', is a 1946 American film noir crime film directed by John Sturges and starring Anita Louise, Lloyd Corrigan, and Robert Scott. Plot Salesman Fred J. Johnson manages to hit a hole-in-one as he p ...

Neale Hanvey James Neale Hanvey (born 28 December 1964) is a Scottish politician serving as the Leader of the Alba Party in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons since 2021, and the Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of ...

of the

Scottish National Party The Scottish National Party (SNP; sco, Scots National Pairty, gd, Pàrtaidh Nàiseanta na h-Alba ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic political party in Scotland. The SNP supports and campaigns for Scottish independence from ...

(SNP) but Hanvey had to resign following his support for a defamation case against a parliamentary colleague,

Kirsty Blackman Kirsty Ann Blackman (; born 20 March 1986) is a Scottish National Party (SNP) politician serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Aberdeen North since 2015. Blackman was re-elected in 2017 and 2019 and currently serves as the SNP Spok ...

. In February 2021, Zahawi announced

schools in England The schools in England are organised into local education authorities. There are 150 local education authorities in England organised into nine larger regions. According to the Schools Census there were 3,408 maintained government secondary scho ...

would reopen on 8 March. In the

2021 British cabinet reshuffle Boris Johnson carried out the second significant reshuffle of his majority government from 15 September to 18 September 2021, having last done so in February 2020. Cabinet-level changes Junior ministerial changes Whips' Office appo ...

, responsibilities for vaccines were merged with those for public health and given to

Maggie Throup Margaret Ann Throup (born 27 January 1957) is a British Conservative Party politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Erewash in Derbyshire since the 2015 general election. Prior to entering politics, Throup worked as a biom ...

in the office of Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Vaccines and Public Health.

Responsibilities

The minister is responsible for the following: *

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

: ** supply (PPE) ** shielding and vulnerable groups ** vaccine deployment * health improvement * health inequalities * prevention * primary care * gender identity services * major diseases * community health * lead minister for crisis response * sponsorship of PHE and FSA

List of Ministers of Public Health

Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for COVID-19 Vaccine Deployment

Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Patient Safety and Primary Care

History

Responsibilities

List of Ministers of Public Health

Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for COVID-19 Vaccine Deployment

Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Patient Safety and Primary Care

References

See also