College welcome to Scotland’s new Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care

21 May 2021

This week Humza Yousaf MSP was appointed Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care in the new Scottish Government following the 6 May Scottish Parliament elections.

The College is looking forward to working closely with the Cabinet Secretary to achieve our shared vision of healthcare services in Scotland which focus on achieving the best outcomes for patients and healthcare professionals.

College President, Professor Jackie Taylor said:

“I have written to Scotland’s new Cabinet Secretary to congratulate him on his new appointment and to say how much our College is looking forward to working with him.

“Our College is unique amongst the Medical Royal Colleges as a multidisciplinary College with over 15,000 members in Scotland alone, representing five faculties of physicians, surgeons, dentists, travel medicine and podiatry specialists. This means we can work with the new Cabinet Secretary reflecting the views across a number of healthcare disciplines.

“The global pandemic has brought unprecedented challenges, but also great opportunities. As a College we have welcomed the close working relationships which we have developed with Scottish Government, the Chief Medical Officer, the workforce unit, and a number of other departments within Scottish Government.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has magnified a number of problems that already existed in our health service. These include: workforce shortages, high levels of stress and burnout, poor staff wellbeing, health inequalities and demand that outstripped capacity, resulting in increased waiting times for patients.

“In meeting the challenge of COVID-19, the speed of decision making, innovative thinking and breaking through bureaucracy has served the health service well. The same approach will be needed to create the shape of the workforce going forward. The NHS needs to maintain its morale, resilience and to achieve adequate staffing levels.

“This is a key theme throughout our College’s manifesto document and highlights the strategies we believe are vital to drive success across our healthcare services. I look forward to the opportunity to meet with the new Cabinet Secretary as soon as possible.”