Part of the debate – in the Scottish Parliament at on 21 February 2024.
Neil Gray
Scottish National Party
I am grateful for the opportunity to speak in the debate as the new Cabinet Secretary for NHS Recovery, Health and Social Care. Scotland’s NHS is an institution that I am truly proud to lead. Although I have been in post only a short number of days, I recognise that our health and social care system is far more than just a series of individual services—it is a vibrant living system that supports every life in Scotland, and those who have dedicated their lives to working in the services across that system help to ensure that all of us can live longer, healthier and more fulfilling lives. I want to set out at the outset how grateful I am to those who work in our health services—in this case, in primary care.
Before I move on, I will take a moment to acknowledge and thank my predecessor, Michael Matheson, who I know gave his all to the role of health secretary. Michael’s commitment to NHS staff and his efforts to work constructively with unions have ensured that Scotland is thus far the only nation in the United Kingdom that has not lost a single day to strike action. That is not a situation that I take for granted, and I want to continue to pursue the working relationship that Michael established, which was fostered on trust with our trade union colleagues.
Our health and social care service is going through the most challenging period in its history. The collective impact of the pandemic, Brexit and the cost of living crisis is one of the biggest systemic shocks that this country and the NHS have faced. All that is against a backdrop of 14 years of UK Government austerity that has left our public services with very little resilience. I am clear that, in order to move forward and recover from those collective challenges, we need reform and innovation right across the health service. I will set out my vision for that reform in the coming weeks, but key to that will be listening to the voices of people who use and work in health and social care.
Let me restate that the fundamentals of Scotland’s NHS will not change. We remain committed to free access to healthcare at the point of need.
A group of workers who have united to promote their common interests.
The cabinet is the group of twenty or so (and no more than 22) senior government ministers who are responsible for running the departments of state and deciding government policy.
It is chaired by the prime minister.
The cabinet is bound by collective responsibility, which means that all its members must abide by and defend the decisions it takes, despite any private doubts that they might have.
Cabinet ministers are appointed by the prime minister and chosen from MPs or peers of the governing party.
However, during periods of national emergency, or when no single party gains a large enough majority to govern alone, coalition governments have been formed with cabinets containing members from more than one political party.
War cabinets have sometimes been formed with a much smaller membership than the full cabinet.
From time to time the prime minister will reorganise the cabinet in order to bring in new members, or to move existing members around. This reorganisation is known as a cabinet re-shuffle.
The cabinet normally meets once a week in the cabinet room at Downing Street.
