secretary of state for health and social care secretary of state for health and social care the secretary of state for health and social care, also referred to as the health secretary, is a secretary of state in the government of the united kingdom, responsible for the work of the department of health and social care. the incumbent is a member of the cabinet of the united kingdom. secretary of statefor health and social careroyal arms of his majesty's governmentincumbentsteve barclaysince 25 october 2022department of health and social carestylehealth secretary(informal)the right honourable(uk and the commonwealth)statussecretary of stateminister of the crownmember ofcabinetprivy councilreports toprime minister of the united kingdomappointerthe crownon advice of the prime ministerterm lengthat his majesty's pleasureformation14 october 1854first holdersir benjamin hallsalary£151,649 per annum (2022)(including £84,144 mp salary)websitewww.gov.uk/government/ministers/secretary-of-state-for-health-and-social-care this article is part of a series onpolitics of the united kingdom constitution magna carta bill of rights treaty of union (acts of union) parliamentary sovereignty rule of law separation of powers other constitutional principles the crown the monarch (list) charles iii heir apparent william, prince of wales royal family succession prerogative counsellors of state executive privy council charles iii(king-in-council) hm government cabinet (list) sunak ministry (c) prime minister (list) rishi sunak (c) deputy prime minister oliver dowden (c) departments ministers agencies legislature uk parliament charles iii(king-in-parliament) house of lords lord speaker the lord mcfall of alcluith house of commons speaker sir lindsay hoyle leader of the opposition sir keir starmer (l) 58th parliament opposition list of mps judiciarycharles iii(king-on-the-bench) supreme court president the lord reed deputy 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northern ireland good friday agreement uk–ireland border northern ireland protocol british–irish council european union (history) brexit post-brexit united kingdom relations with the european union uk–eu withdrawal agreement the commonwealth member states united kingdom and the united nations united nations security council p5 nato g20 g7 united kingdom portal englandnorthern ireland scotland wales other countries the position can trace its roots back to the nineteenth century, and has been a secretary of state position since 1968. for 30 years, from 1988 to 2018, the position was titled secretary of state for health, before prime minister theresa may added "and social care" to the designation in the 2018 british cabinet reshuffle. the office holder works alongside the other health and social care ministers. the corresponding shadow minister is the shadow secretary of state for health and social care, and the secretary of state is also scrutinised by the health and social care select committee. the current health secretary is steve barclay who was appointed by rishi sunak on 25 october 2022. responsibilities corresponding to what is generally known as a health minister in many other countries, the health secretary's remit includes the following: oversight of england's national health service, including: delivery of care performance fiscal consolidation financial management matters concerning england's social care policy (although responsibility is shared with the ministry of housing communities and local government in respect of adult social care, and the department for education in respect of children's social care). matters concerning england's national public health relations with international health partnerships (who) history the first boards of health were created by orders in council dated 21 june, 14 november and 21 november 1831. in 1848, a general board of health was created with lay members as its leadership and the first commissioner of woods and forests as its president. in 1854, this board was reconstituted and the president appointed separately. however, the board was abolished in 1858 and its function of overseeing the local boards was transferred to a new local government act office within the home office. from 1871, that function was transferred to the new local government board. the ministry of health was created in by the ministry of health act 1919 as a reconstruction of the local government board. local government functions were eventually transferred to the minister of housing and local government, leaving the health ministry in charge of health proper. from 1968, it was amalgamated with the ministry of social security under the secretary of state for social services, until a de-merger of the department of health and social security on 25 july 1988. since devolution in 1999, the position holder's responsibility for the nhs is mainly restricted to the health service in england, with the holder's counterparts in scotland and wales responsible for the nhs in scotland and wales. prior to devolution, the secretaries of state for scotland and wales had those respective responsibilities, but the department of health had a larger role than now in the co-ordination of health policy across great britain. health services in northern ireland have always had separate arrangements from the rest of the uk, and are currently the responsibility of the health minister in the northern ireland executive. a small number of health issues remain reserved matters, that is, they are not devolved. according to jeremy hunt the department receives more letters than any other government department and there are 50 officials in the correspondence unit. list of ministers colour key (for political parties): whig conservative radical peelite liberal labour unionist national labour national liberal president of the board of health (1848–1858) president of the board term of office political party prime minister as first commissioner of woods and forests lord john russell the earl of carlisle 1848 17 april 1849 whig lord seymourmp for totnes 17 april 1849 1 august 1851 whig as first commissioner of works lord seymourmp for totnes 1 august 1851 21 february 1852 whig lord john mannersmp for colchester 4 march 1852 17 december 1852 conservative the earl of derby william molesworthmp for southwark 5 january 1853 14 october 1854 radical the earl of aberdeen(coalition) president of the board of health benjamin hallmp for marylebone 14 october 1854 13 august 1855 whig the viscount palmerston william cowpermp for hertford 13 august 1855 9 february 1857 whig william monsellmp for county limerick 9 february 1857 24 september 1857 whig william cowpermp for hertford 24 september 1857 21 february 1858 whig charles adderleymp for staffordshire northern 8 march 1858 1 september 1858 conservative the earl of derby board of health abolished in 1858; responsibilities transferred tothe privy council (1858–1871), then the local government board (1871–1919). minister of health (1919–1968) minister term of office political party prime minister christopher addisonmp for shoreditch 24 june 1919 1 april 1921 liberal david lloyd george(coalition) alfred mondmp for swansea west 1 april 1921 19 october 1922 liberal arthur griffith-boscawenmp for taunton 24 october 1922 7 march 1923(lost seat 1922) conservative bonar law neville chamberlainmp for birmingham ladywood 7 march 1923 27 august 1923 conservative stanley baldwin william joynson-hicksmp for twickenham 27 august 1923 22 january 1924 conservative john wheatleymp for glasgow shettleston 22 january 1924 3 november 1924 labour ramsay macdonald neville chamberlainmp for birmingham ladywood then birmingham edgbaston 6 november 1924 4 june 1929 conservative stanley baldwin arthur greenwoodmp for nelson and colne 7 june 1929 24 august 1931 labour ramsay macdonald neville chamberlainmp for birmingham edgbaston 25 august 1931 5 november 1931 conservative ramsay macdonald(1st national min.;2nd national min.) hilton youngmp for sevenoaks 5 november 1931 7 june 1935 conservative kingsley woodmp for woolwich west 7 june 1935 16 may 1938 conservative stanley baldwin(3rd national min.) neville chamberlain(4th national min.;war coalition) walter elliotmp for glasgow kelvingrove 16 may 1938 13 may 1940 unionist malcolm macdonaldmp for ross and cromarty 13 may 1940 8 february 1941 national labour winston churchill(war coalition;caretaker min.) ernest brownmp for leith 8 february 1941 11 november 1943 national liberal henry willinkmp for croydon north 11 november 1943 26 july 1945 conservative aneurin bevanmp for ebbw vale 3 august 1945 17 january 1951 labour clement attlee hilary marquandmp for middlesbrough east 17 january 1951 26 october 1951 labour harry crookshankmp for gainsborough 30 october 1951 7 may 1952 conservative winston churchill iain macleodmp for enfield west 7 may 1952 20 december 1955 conservative anthony eden robin turtonmp for thirsk and malton 20 december 1955 16 january 1957 conservative dennis vospermp for runcorn 16 january 1957 17 september 1957 conservative harold macmillan derek walker-smithmp for east hertfordshire 17 september 1957 27 july 1960 conservative enoch powellmp for wolverhampton south west 27 july 1960 20 october 1963 conservative anthony barbermp for doncaster then altrincham and sale 20 october 1963 16 october 1964 conservative alec douglas-home kenneth robinsonmp for st. pancras north 18 october 1964 1 november 1968 labour harold wilson post merged with ministry for social security in 1968. secretary of state for health and social services (1968–1988) secretary of state term of office political party prime minister richard crossmanmp for coventry east 1 november 1968 19 june 1970 labour harold wilson keith josephmp for leeds north east 20 june 1970 4 march 1974 conservative edward heath barbara castlemp for blackburn 5 march 1974 8 april 1976 labour harold wilson david ennalsmp for norwich north 8 april 1976 4 may 1979 labour james callaghan patrick jenkinmp for wanstead and woodford 5 may 1979 14 september 1981 conservative margaret thatcher norman fowlermp for sutton coldfield 14 september 1981 13 june 1987 conservative john mooremp for croydon central 13 june 1987 25 july 1988 conservative post split into secretary of state for social security and secretary of state for health in 1988. secretary of state for health (1988–2018) secretary of state term of office political party prime minister kenneth clarkemp for rushcliffe 25 july 1988 2 november 1990 conservative margaret thatcher william waldegravemp for bristol west 2 november 1990 10 april 1992 conservative john major virginia bottomleymp for south west surrey 10 april 1992 5 july 1995 conservative stephen dorrellmp for loughborough then charnwood 5 july 1995