Scottish National Health Service

NHS Scotland

Many central functions of NHS Scotland are housed at the Scottish Government's Victoria Quay building in Leith, Edinburgh.
Public healthcare service overview
Formed	1948
Preceding agencies	Highlands and Islands Medical Service Emergency Hospital Service
Jurisdiction	Scotland
Headquarters	St Andrew's House, Regent Road, Edinburgh, EH1 3DG
Employees	160,000
Annual budget	£12.2 billion (2015-16)
Minister responsible	Shona Robison, Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport
Deputy Ministers responsible	Aileen Campbell, Minister for Public Health and Sport Maureen Watt, Minister for Mental Health
Public healthcare service executive	Paul Gray, Director-General Health and Social Care and Chief Executive of NHSScotland
Parent department	Health and Social Care Directorates
Child agencies	14 regional NHS Boards Healthcare Improvement Scotland NHS 24 NHS Health Scotland NHS National Services Scotland NHS National Waiting Times Centre Scottish Ambulance Service State Hospitals Board for Scotland
Key documents	National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1947 National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1972 National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978 National Health Service Reform (Scotland) Act 2004 National Performance Framework Single Outcome Agreements
Website	www.scot.nhs.uk

NHS Scotland, sometimes styled NHSScotland is the publicly funded healthcare system in Scotland. Health and social care policy and funding are the responsibility of the Health and Social Care Directorates of the Scottish Government. Scotland's NHS was established in 1948. The current Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport is Shona Robison and the head of staff is the Director-General Health and Social Care and Chief Executive of NHS Scotland, Paul Gray.

NHS Scotland had an operating budget of £12.2 billion in 2015–16.

Health and social care are devolved issues in the United Kingdom and the separate public healthcare bodies of Scotland, England and Wales are each commonly referred to as "National Health Service". The NHS in Scotland was created as an administratively separate organisation in 1948 under the ministerial oversight of the Scottish Office, before being politically devolved in 1999. This separation of powers and financing is not always apparent to the general public due to the co-ordination and co-operation where cross-border emergency care is involved.

Approximately 160,000 staff work across 14 regional NHS Boards, seven Special NHS Boards and one public health body, More than 12,000 of these healthcare staff are engaged under independent contractor arrangements. Descriptions of staff numbers can be expressed as headcount and by Whole-Time Equivalent (WTE) which is an estimate that helps to take account of full and part-time work patterns.

Scotland's healthcare workforce includes:

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