Cabinet Secretary for Health, Wellbeing and Sport

Cabinet Secretary for Health, Wellbeing and Sport
Logo of the Scottish Government
Incumbent Shona Robison MSP since 21 November 2014
Appointer	First Minister
Website	www.scotland.gov.uk

The Cabinet Secretary for Health, Wellbeing and Sport, commonly referred to as the Health Secretary, is a cabinet position in the Scottish Government. The Cabinet Secretary is responsible for the Scottish Government Health and Social Care Directorates and NHS Scotland. The Cabinet Secretary is assisted by the Minister for Public Health and the Minister for Sport, Health Improvement and Mental Health.

The current Cabinet Secretary is Shona Robison, who was appointed in November 2014.

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 and 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.^[1]

Overview

Responsibilities

The responsibilities of the Cabinet Secretary include:

• NHS Scotland
• acute and primary services
• patient services
• patient safety
• medical records
• quality strategy
• dentistry
• allied healthcare services
• national service planning
• NHS performance
• NHS staff and pay
• Health and wellbeing
• public health
• health protection
• child and maternal health
• health improvement
• sexual health
• problem alcohol use and recovery
• healthy working lives
• adult care and support
• carers
• sport
• physical activity
• securing the legacy of the 2014 Commonwealth Games

Public bodies

The following public bodies report to the Cabinet Secretary for Health, Wellbeing and Sport:

• NHS Scotland
• Care Inspectorate
• Scottish Social Services Council
• Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland
• Sportscotland

List of office holders

Name		Portrait	Entered Office	Left Office	Party	First Minister
	Susan Deacon		16 May 1999	28 November 2001	Labour Party	Donald Dewar
	Malcolm Chisholm		28 November 2001	6 October 2004	Labour Party	Henry McLeish Jack McConnell
	Andy Kerr		6 October 2004	16 May 2007	Labour Party	Jack McConnell
	Nicola Sturgeon		16 May 2007	19 May 2011	Scottish National Party	Alex Salmond
	Nicola Sturgeon		19 May 2011	5 September 2012	Scottish National Party	Alex Salmond
	Alex Neil		5 September 2012	21 November 2014	Scottish National Party	Alex Salmond
	Shona Robison		21 November 2014	Incumbent	Scottish National Party	Nicola Sturgeon

References

1. "Cabinet and Ministers: biography and responsibilities". Scottish Government. 26 June 2014. Retrieved 15 July 2014.

External links

• Cabinet Secretary on Scottish Government website
• NHS Scotland website