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, eighth in the ministerial ranking.
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) is the UK government department responsible for government policy on health and adult social care matters in England, along with a few elements of the same matters which are not otherwise devolved to the Scottish Government, Welsh Government or Northern Ireland Executive. It oversees the English National Health Service (NHS). The department is led by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care with three Ministers of State and three Parliamentary Under-Secretaries of State.
Alistair James Hendrie Burt is a British politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for North East Bedfordshire from 2001 until 2019. He was previously MP for his native Bury North in Greater Manchester from 1983 until 1997. Burt was Parliamentary Under Secretary of State then Minister of State at the Department of Social Security from 1992 to 1997, and Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office from 2010 to 2013. Burt was also Minister of State at the Department of Health from May 2015 to July 2016.
Parliamentary Under Secretaries of State is the lowest of three tiers of government minister in the UK government, immediately junior to a Minister of State, which is itself junior to a Secretary of State.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for European Neighbourhood and the Americas, formerly Minister of State for Europe, is a ministerial position within the Government of the United Kingdom, in charge of affairs with Europe, the European Union and NATO. The Minister can also be responsible for government policy towards the Americas; European security; defence and international security; the Falkland Islands; polar regions; migration; protocol; human resources; OSCE and Council of Europe; relations with Parliament; British Overseas Territories of Gibraltar and Sovereign Base Areas in Cyprus; and FCO finance, knowledge and technology.
Nicola Claire Blackwood, Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford is a British politician of the Conservative Party. Baroness Blackwood was a Member of Parliament (MP) for Oxford West and Abingdon from 2010 to 2017. She is also known by her married name Nicola Blackwood-Bate since 2016.
The Minister of State for Disabled People, Work and Health is a mid-level minister in the Department for Work and Pensions of the United Kingdom government, with responsibility for disabled people.
NHS COVID-19 is a voluntary contact tracing app for monitoring the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in England and Wales. It has been available since 24 September 2020 for Android and iOS smartphones, and can be used by anyone aged 16 or over.
NHS Test and Trace is a government-funded service in England, established in 2020 to track and help prevent the spread of COVID-19. The programme is part of the UK Health Security Agency; the service and the agency are headed by Jenny Harries.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) is a government agency in the United Kingdom, responsible since April 2021 for UK-wide public health protection and infectious disease capability, and replacing Public Health England. It is an executive agency of the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC).
The Minister of State for Universities is a mid-level position in the Department for Education in the British government. It is currently held by Michelle Donelan MP who took office on 13 February 2020. The minister has oversight over British universities and the Student Loans Company.
Operation Moonshot is a UK government programme to introduce same day mass testing for COVID-19 in England as a way of enabling large gatherings of people to take place in that country while maintaining control over the virus. According to the British Medical Journal, the programme aims to deliver 10 million tests per day by 2021.
The Vaccine Taskforce in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland was set up in April 2020 by the Second Johnson ministry, in collaboration with Chief Scientific Advisor Patrick Vallance and Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty, in order to facilitate the path towards the introduction of a COVID-19 vaccine in the UK and its global distribution. The taskforce acts to coordinate the research efforts of government with industry, academics and funding agencies in order to be able to make timely decisions which expedite vaccine development and deployment.
The Joint Biosecurity Centre (JBC) is a scientific body which seeks to advise United Kingdom government policy as part of the response to outbreaks of COVID-19, such as on testing deployment, international travel, and the UK 'COVID-19 alert level'. Its existence was announced by Prime Minister Boris Johnson in May 2020. The body has been part of the UK Health Security Agency since the establishment of that agency on 1 April 2021.
The Minister of State for Health is a mid-level position in the Department of Health and Social Care in the British government. It is currently held by Edward Argar MP who took the office on 10 September 2019. The minister often deputises for the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care alongside the Minister of State for Social Care.
The Minister of State for Care and Mental Health is a mid-level position in the Department of Health and Social Care in the British government. It is currently held by Gillian Keegan MP who took the office on 16 September 2021. The minister often deputises for the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care alongside the Minister of State for Health. The minister is in charge of social care in England.
A Minister of State is a mid-tier Minister of the Crown in the UK government.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Innovation is a junior position in the Department of Health and Social Care in the British government. It is currently held by Syed Kamall who took the office on 17 September 2021.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Vaccines and Public Health is a position in the Department of Health and Social Care in the Government of the United Kingdom. The minister is responsible for COVID-19 vaccination in the United Kingdom. The role has sometimes been known as the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Public Health and Minister of State for Public Health.
