The minister of state for public health and patient safety is a position in the Department of Health and Social Care in the Government of the United Kingdom.
History The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Security worked at the Department of Health and Social Security. The future Prime Minister John Major held this office. The office was known as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health from 1987 to 1990.
Nicola Blackwood lost her seat in the snap 2017 general election and was replaced as a minister by Steve Brine.
During the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, the minister was placed in charge of public health policy. The office of Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for COVID-19 Vaccine Deployment was created later and was held by Nadhim Zahawi from 28 November 2020 to 15 September 2021. Zahawi was briefly shadowed by Neale Hanvey of the Scottish National Party (SNP) but Hanvey had to resign following his support for a defamation case against a parliamentary colleague, Kirsty Blackman. In February 2021, Zahawi announced schools in England would reopen on 8 March.
In the 2021 British cabinet reshuffle, responsibilities for vaccines were merged with those for public health and given to Maggie Throup in the office of Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Vaccines and Public Health.
After the 2024 United Kingdom general election, Andrew Gwynne would be named as the new Labour Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Public Health and Prevention.
In February 2025, after Gwynne was dismissed by the government, Ashley Dalton would be named as the new minister. In March 2026 Sharon Hodgson was appointed following Ashley Dalton resigning on health grounds.
Responsibilities The minister leads on the following policy areas:
COVID-19 vaccine deployment health improvement prevention immunisation and screening UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) emergency preparedness infectious diseases environmental health abortion global health security lead minister for crisis response sponsorship of FSA and UKHSA
List of ministers of public health NamePortraitTook officeLeft officePolitical partyMinistryRole created out of the Department of Health and Social Security replacing the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of HealthParliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social SecurityPaul Dean MP for North Somerset24 June 19704 March 1974ConservativeHeathMichael Alison MP for Barkston Ash 24 June 19704 March 1974ConservativeDavid Owen MP for Plymouth Devonport8 March 197426 July 1974LabourWilsonRobert Brown MP for Newcastle upon Tyne West8 March 197418 October 1974LabourAlec Jones MP for Rhondda18 October 197412 June 1975LabourMichael Meacher MP for Oldham West12 June 197514 April 1976LabourEric Deakins MP for Walthamstow14 April 19764 May 1979LabourCallaghanGeorge Young MP for Acton7 May 197915 September 1981ConservativeThatcher IGeoffrey Finsberg MP for Hampstead15 September 198114 June 1983ConservativeJohn Patten MP for Oxford West and Abingdon14 June 19832 September 1985ConservativeThatcher IIJohn Major MP for Huntingdon2 September 198510 September 1986ConservativeParliamentary Under-Secretary of State for HealthEdwina Currie MP for South Derbyshire10 September 198616 December 1988ConservativeThatcher II & IIIRoger Freeman MP for Kettering16 December 19884 May 1990ConservativeThatcher IIIGloria Hooper, Baroness Hooper Life peer28 July 198914 April 1992ConservativeThatcher III Major IStephen Dorrell MP for Loughborough4 May 1990November 1990ConservativeThatcher IIIParliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social SecurityTom Sackville MP for Bolton West14 April 1992 29 November 1995ConservativeMajor IIJulia Cumberlege, Baroness Cumberlege Life peer14 April 19922 May 1997ConservativeTim Yeo MP for South Suffolk15 April 199227 May 1993ConservativeJohn Bowis MP for Battersea27 May 199323 July 1996ConservativeJohn Horam MP for Orpington29 November 19952 May 1997ConservativeSimon Burns MP for Chelmsford23 July 19962 May 1997ConservativeMinister of State for Public HealthTessa Jowell MP for Dulwich and West Norwood2 May 199711 October 1999LabourBlair IYvette Cooper MP for Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford11 October 199928 May 2002LabourBlair I & IIDavid Lammy MP for Tottenham29 May 200213 June 2003LabourBlair IIMelanie Johnson MP for Welwyn Hatfield13 June 200310 May 2005LabourCaroline Flint MP for Don Valley10 May 200528 June 2007LabourBlair IIIDawn Primarolo MP for Bristol South29 June 20075 June 2009LabourBrownGillian Merron MP for Lincoln10 June 200911 May 2010LabourAnne Milton MP for Guildford11 May 20104 September 2012ConservativeCameron–CleggAnna Soubry MP for Broxtowe4 September 20127 October 2013ConservativeJane Ellison MP for Battersea7 October 201315 July 2016ConservativeCameron IINicola Blackwood MP for Oxford West and Abingdon14 July 20169 June 2017ConservativeMayParliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Public Health and Primary CareSteve Brine MP for Winchester14 June 201725 March 2019ConservativeMay IISeema Kennedy MP for South Ribble 4 April 201926 July 2019ConservativeParliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Prevention, Public Health and Primary CareJo Churchill MP for Bury St Edmunds26 July 201915 September 2021ConservativeJohnson I & IIParliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Vaccines and Public HealthMaggie Throup MP for Erewash15 September 20216 September 2022ConservativeJohnson IIParliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Primary Care and Public HealthNeil O'Brien MP for Harborough8 September 202213 November 2023ConservativeTruss
SunakParliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Public Health, Start for Life and Primary CareDame Andrea Leadsom MP for South Northamptonshire13 November 20235 July 2024ConservativeSunakParliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Public Health and PreventionAndrew Gwynne MP for Gorton and Denton9 July 20248 February 2025LabourStarmerAshley Dalton MP for West Lancashire10 February 20252 March 2026LabourSharon Hodgson MP for Washington and Gateshead South3 March 202622 July 2026Labour Minister of State for Public Health and PreventionDiana Johnson22 July 2026IncumbentLabourBurnham
Other ministerial appointments COVID-19 vaccine deployment NamePortraitTook officeLeft officePolitical partyPrime MinisterParliamentary Under-Secretary of State for COVID-19 Vaccine DeploymentNadhim Zahawi MP for Stratford-on-Avon28 November 202015 September 2021ConservativeBoris Johnson (ll)
Patient safety and primary care NamePortraitTook officeLeft officePolitical partyPrime MinisterParliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Patient Safety and Primary CareMaria Caulfield MP for Lewes17 September 20217 July 2022ConservativeBoris Johnson (ll)James Morris MP for Halesowen and Rowley Regis8 July 20228 September 2022ConservativeBoris Johnson (ll)
See also Health minister COVID-19 vaccination programme in the United Kingdom COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom List of government ministers of the United Kingdom
References