Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care (Scotland) explained

Post:
Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care
Native Name:Gaelic; Scottish Gaelic: Rùnaire a’ Chaibineit airson Slàinte is Cùram Sòisealta
Incumbent:Neil Gray
Incumbentsince:8 February 2024
Seat:Edinburgh
Appointer:First Minister
Inaugural:Susan Deacon
Formation:19 May 1999
Salary:£126,452 per annum [1]
(including £72,196 MSP salary)

The Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care[2] (Gaelic; Scottish Gaelic: Rùnaire a’ Chaibineit airson Slàinte is Cùram Sòisealta), commonly referred to as the Health Secretary (Gaelic; Scottish Gaelic: Rùnaire na Slàinte), is a cabinet position in the Scottish Government. The Cabinet Secretary is responsible for the Health and Social Care Directorates and NHS Scotland.

The current Cabinet Secretary is Neil Gray who has served since 8 February 2024.[3]

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, 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 Cabinet Secretary for Infrastructure and Capital Investment. Responsibilities for the cities strategy and the delivery of the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow were later transferred to other members of the cabinet.[4]

After the 2016 election, 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 retitled the role as Cabinet Secretary for NHS Recovery, Health and Social Care, appointing Michael Matheson in March 2023 then Neil Gray 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:

Public bodies and Directorates

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

Directorates

List of office holders

NamePortraitEntered OfficeLeft OfficePartyFirst Minister
Minister for Health and Community Care
Susan Deacon[16] 19 May 199928 November 2001Labour PartyDonald Dewar
Malcolm Chisholm[17] 28 November 20016 October 2004Labour PartyHenry McLeish
Jack McConnell
Andy Kerr6 October 200417 May 2007Labour PartyJack McConnell
Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing
Nicola Sturgeon17 May 200719 May 2011Scottish National PartyAlex Salmond
Cabinet Secretary for Health, Wellbeing and Cities Strategy
Nicola Sturgeon19 May 20115 September 2012Scottish National PartyAlex Salmond
Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing
Alex Neil5 September 201221 November 2014Scottish National PartyAlex Salmond
Cabinet Secretary for Health, Wellbeing and Sport
Shona Robison21 November 201418 May 2016Scottish National PartyNicola Sturgeon
Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport
Shona Robison18 May 201626 June 2018Scottish National PartyNicola Sturgeon
Jeane Freeman26 June 201819 May 2021Scottish National PartyNicola Sturgeon
Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care
Humza Yousaf[18] 20 May 202128 March 2023Scottish National PartyNicola Sturgeon
Cabinet Secretary for NHS Recovery, Health and Social Care
Michael Matheson29 March 20238 February 2024 Scottish National PartyHumza Yousaf
Neil Gray8 February 20248 May 2024Scottish National PartyHumza Yousaf
Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care
Neil Gray8 May 2024Scottish National PartyJohn Swinney

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: MSP salaries . parliament.scot . 13 May 2024 . The Scottish Parliament.
  2. Web site: Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care . 2024-06-13 . www.gov.scot . en. Text was copied from this source, which is available under an Open Government Licence v3.0. © Crown copyright.
  3. News: 2024-02-08 . Neil Gray replaces Michael Matheson as Scottish health secretary . 2024-02-09 . BBC News . en-GB.
  4. Web site: Cabinet and Ministers: biography and responsibilities . . 26 June 2014 . 15 July 2014 . 7 September 2008 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080907053528/http://www.scotland.gov.uk/About/14944/Scottish-Cabinet . dead .
  5. Web site: Chief Medical Officer Directorate. 2024-06-13 . www.gov.scot . en.
  6. Web site: Chief Nursing Officer Directorate. 2024-06-13 . www.gov.scot . en.
  7. Web site: Chief Operating Officer, NHS Scotland Directorate. 2024-06-13 . www.gov.scot . en.
  8. Web site: Digital Health and Care Directorate. 2024-06-13 . www.gov.scot . en.
  9. Web site: Health Workforce Directorate. 2024-06-13. www.gov.scot. en.
  10. Web site:
    • Health and Social Care Finance, Digital and Governance Directorate
    . 2024-06-13 . www.gov.scot . en.
  11. Web site: Healthcare Quality and Improvement Directorate. 2024-06-13 . www.gov.scot . en.
  12. Web site: Mental Health Directorate. 2024-06-13 . www.gov.scot . en.
  13. Web site: Population Health Directorate. 2024-06-13 . www.gov.scot . en.
  14. Web site: Primary Care Directorate. 2024-06-13. www.gov.scot . en.
  15. Web site: Social Care and National Care Service Development. 2024-06-13. www.gov.scot . en.
  16. Scottish Parliament Fact sheet FS2-06. Ministers, Law Officers and Ministerial Parliamentary Aides by Cabinet: Session 1 . . 30 March 2007 . 28 October 2020.
  17. Scottish Parliament Fact sheet FS2-07. Ministers, Law Officers and Ministerial Parliamentary Aides by Cabinet: Session 2 . Scottish Parliament . 8 June 2008 . 28 October 2020.
  18. News: Scottish Cabinet reshuffle: Nicola Sturgeon unveils new team. The National. Scotland. 19 May 2021. 19 May 2021.

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