Everyone starts with the minor heal wounds spell (I believe) and I have had i from the beginning. However the actual spell is not in my journal. If I select a one use scroll then once it is gone my active spell reverts to the default heal wounds spell. However if I select a permanent spell there is no way (that I can see) I can revert back to the healing spell. The only way I can currently do it is to select another one use scroll (if I have one) and use it but then I know that as soon as I use a permanent spell it is gone again.

Is the default heal spell a separate button? Any reason why it isn't in the spells list in my journal yet gets activated in the HUD when the default spell is required?

Are you looking at the journal tab that has the complete list?

I have looked on all tabs

I think it's possible to get into this situation only by using the console or a mod to remove the spell. Are you on a PC?

Yes, the only mods I can think of that change either magic or UI is darnified UI, supreme magicka and OOO

This won't be a UI change. I don't know whether OOO or Supreme Magicka would remove that spell but you could presumably add it back via console.

The game will always put the default spell back as your active one whenever the "current spell" is empty after using a scroll, but it does so even if you don't have it. because in theory you can't be without that one. I seem to remember reading about that somewhere in the CS Wiki, but I don;t remember where. It would appear that it got removed, so if you've been using the same mods for a while and have had it before, it's probably safe to console it back.

The console trick worked, thanks ghastley.

The very first thing I did when I started the game is use the console to tweak the bowsway mod and when I looked at the spell code for minor wounds just now which is 00000136 I remember seeing it in the console at the beginning and not knowing what it was. Something must have ordered it to be taken out at the start, it may even have been the race rebalancing project. It is interesting to see that even if you take it away from the player it will still be the default spell.