Health and Social Care Directorates
The Health and Social Care Directorates are a set of directorates of the Scottish Government. They are responsible for NHS Scotland, as well as policies on the development and implementation of health and social care.

The Chief Executive of NHS Scotland and Director-General of the Scottish Government's Health and Social Care Directorates is Malcolm Wright.

There is a direct relationship between Ministers and the Directorates, but this relationship is not consistent across the Government as there is often no direct read across to Ministerial portfolios from DGs. The activities of these Directorates are under the purview of the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport. She is assisted in this work by the Minister for Mental Health and the Minister for Public Health, Sport and Wellbeing.

Structure
The current Directorates are:

Chief Medical Officer - Chief Medical Officer: Dr Catherine Calderwood
Chief Nursing Officer - Chief Nursing Officer: Fiona McQueen
Health and Social Care Integration Directorate - Director: Geoff Huggins
Health Finance Directorate - Director for Health Finance: Christine McLaughlin
Health Workforce and Strategic Change Directorate - Director for Health Workforce and Strategic Change: Shirley Rogers
Healthcare Quality and Strategy Directorate - Director: Michael Kellet
Performance and Delivery Directorate - Director: John Connaghan
Population Health Directorate - Director: Dr Andrew Scott

As well as responsibility for the regional health boards of NHS Scotland, the Directorates also have responsibility for:
 NHS Health Scotland
 Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland
 Scottish Ambulance Service
 State Hospital
 NHS24
 Healthcare Improvement Scotland
 NHS National Services Scotland

There are 6 chief professional officers:

 Chief Dental Officer – Margie Taylor
 Chief Health Professions Officer – Jacqui Lunday Johnstone
 Chief Medical Officer – Dr Catherine Calderwood
 Chief Nursing Officer – Fiona McQueen
 Chief Pharmaceutical Officer – Professor RoseMarie Parr
 Chief Scientist (Health) – Professor David Crossman

History
The Scottish Executive Health Department (SEHD) was created in 1999 from the former Scottish Office Health Department (SOHD) (previously part of the Scottish Office Home and Health Department).  The separate departments in the Scottish Government were abolished in 2007 and replaced with Directorates. In December 2010, the functions of the Health Directorates were taken on by the Health and Social Care Directorates.