Cabinet Secretary for NHS Recovery, Health and Social Care

Neil Gray MSP

Contact

Address

Cabinet Secretary for NHS Recovery, Health and Social Care
Scottish Government
St Andrew's House
Regent Road
Edinburgh
EH1 3DG

Neil Gray was appointed as Cabinet Secretary for NHS Recovery, Health and Social Care in February 2024.

Responsibilities

The Cabinet Secretary is responsible for:

  • NHS recovery and remobilisation
  • primary care and GPs
  • community care
  • acute services
  • unscheduled care
  • NHS performance
  • workforce, training, planning, and pay
  • patient services and patient safety
  • health and social care integration
  • health improvement and protection
  • quality and improvement
  • person-centred care
  • eHealth
  • NHS estate
  • centre of excellence for rural and remote medicine and social care
  • allied healthcare services

Supporting Ministers

Priorities

The First Minister has issued mandate letters to all Cabinet Secretaries highlighting how they will collectively deliver on the priorities set out in the Policy Prospectus during the financial year 2023 to 2024. 

Biography

Neil Gray was born and brought up in Orkney and was educated at Kirkwall Grammar School. He graduated from the University of Stirling in 2008 with a first-class Bachelor of Arts Honours degree in politics and journalism.

He was elected to represent Airdrie and Shotts Constituency at the 2021 Scottish Parliament election.

He had previously won the Airdrie and Shotts Westminster seat in 2015 and held it on two subsequent occasions before resigning to stand for the same area in the 2021 Scottish Parliament election. Prior to becoming an MP, Mr Gray worked for former Scottish Government Health Secretary Alex Neil MSP as his Airdrie and Shotts constituency office manager.

Neil Gray was appointed Minister for Culture, Europe and International Development in January 2022. In March 2022 he additionally became Minister with special responsibility for Refugees from Ukraine. He was appointed Cabinet Secretary for Wellbeing Economy, Fair Work and Energy in March 2023.

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