Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport

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

The Cabinet Secretary for Health 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 Sport and the Minister for 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. After the 2016 election, the name of the post was changed to simply Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport.

Overview

Responsibilities

The responsibilities of the Cabinet Secretary include:

NHS, Elective centres, Health care and social integration, Carers, Adult care and support, Implementing 2020 Vision and National Clinical Strategy, Patient services, NHS staff and pay, Problem alcohol use and recovery, Healthy working lives, National service planning, NHS performance, Acute services, Sporting events and legacy, Patient safety, Quality strategy, Public health, Health protection, Sport and physical activity, Primary care, Mental health, Allied healthcare services, Dentistry, Sexual health, medical records, Health improvement, Drugs policy, Child and maternal health.

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

Minister for Health and Community Care
Name		Portrait	Entered Office	Left Office	Party	First Minister
	Susan Deacon	75px	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
Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing
	Nicola Sturgeon	75px	16 May 2007	19 May 2011	Scottish National Party	Alex Salmond
Cabinet Secretary for Health, Wellbeing and Cities Strategy
	Nicola Sturgeon	75px	19 May 2011	5 September 2012	Scottish National Party	Alex Salmond
Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing
	Alex Neil		5 September 2012	21 November 2014	Scottish National Party	Alex Salmond
Cabinet Secretary for Health, Wellbeing and Sport
	Shona Robison	75px	21 November 2014	18 May 2016	Scottish National Party	Nicola Sturgeon
Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport
	Shona Robison	75px	18 May 2016	Incumbent	Scottish National Party	Nicola Sturgeon

External links

• Cabinet Secretary on Scottish Government website
• NHS Scotland website