News

Call to reinstate a Women’s Health Minister

Rape Crisis Scotland has joined a coalition of medical experts and women’s organisations calling on the First Minister to reinstate the role of Women’s Health Minister. 

Last month John Swinney unveiled a new slimmed down top team, reducing his cabinet team from 12 ministers to nine.

Angela Constance has been named the new cabinet secretary for Health and Care. 

She is supported by two junior ministers: Alison Thewliss, the newly-appointed minister for Community Care, and Maree Todd who is the minister for Mental Wellbeing, Public Health, Sport, Alcohol and Drugs.

However, following the resignation of Jenni Minto, there is no longer a dedicated junior minister for Women’s Health. 

At the start of 2026, the Scottish Government published the second phase of the Women’s Health Plan.

Priorities included tackling increased waiting times for access to gynaecological care and eliminating cervical cancer by 2040.

The Women’s Health Minister also chaired the Scottish Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce, which was set up following pressure from campaign groups and parents who had shared distressing experiences of maternity services across the country.

Women’s health deserves its own dedicated portfolio and we urge the First Minister to reconsider this disappointing, and potentially damaging, decision. 

Read the full letter here: 

Dear First Minister,
We are writing as a coalition of healthcare bodies and women’s rights organisations to express our deep concern about the removal of the Women’s Health Minister role following last month’s appointment of the new Scottish Government Cabinet and Ministers.
At a time when women’s healthcare in Scotland faces sustained challenges, we believe that a lack of explicit ministerial responsibility risks undermining progress, reducing accountability, and signalling to the public that improving women’s health is no longer a priority for this government.
We are grateful that you have retained the national Women’s Health Champion post. However, your decision to remove this important ministerial portfolio comes amid continuing pressures and safety concerns within maternity services, rapidly rising waits for gynaecological care, inequitable perinatal mental healthcare provision, and longstanding evidence that has demonstrated that women experience deep-rooted systemic bias, poorer outcomes, and barriers to care across the health system.
Ongoing gaps in abortion provision also continue to persist, and have forced hundreds of women in the past few years to travel to England to access care unavailable to them in Scotland – an unacceptable situation that requires sustained political will and accountability to resolve. At a point when the Scottish Government is considering recommendations relating to abortion law and has committed to undertaking a public consultation on the issue, it is more important than ever that women’s health has a dedicated portfolio to drive progress and deliver meaningful improvements to care.
We also have concerns around the oversight of planned maternity service reform. The previous Women’s Health Minister, Jenni Minto, chaired the Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce and was responsible for the progression of work related to the national review. The removal of this post has created uncertainty regarding who will now provide the strategic leadership needed for such a significant piece of work.
Historically, women’s mental and physical health has been overlooked and deprioritised, including for most of the period since devolution. The establishment of a dedicated ministerial portfolio in 2021, only five years ago, was an important turning point for women’s rights in Scotland and was recognition of the leadership needed to address these deep-rooted and long-standing inequalities. Crucially, it also reflected the need for a broader understanding of women’s health, recognising that issues such as violence against women and girls have profound and lasting impacts on women’s health outcomes.
We therefore urge you to reinstate a dedicated Minister for Women’s Health, which we believe would provide the leadership, accountability, and visibility that women’s healthcare so desperately needs and deserves.
We would welcome the opportunity to discuss this further with you.