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Health Department to establish neighbourhood centred system of care

Aileen Moynagh
BBC News NI Health Reporter
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Mike Nesbitt said it is a "defining and watershed year" for health and social care services

The health minister Mike Nesbitt has said he plans to bring more services closer to communities as part of a reset plan for health and social care in Northern Ireland.

The focus will be on establishing a neighbourhood centred system of care, that brings care as close as possible to those who need it, that tackles health inequalities, and that supports individuals to improve their own health and well-being.

The reset plan builds on the key themes of stabilisation, reform and delivery as published in the minister's three-year strategic plan in 2024.

Nesbitt said it was a "defining and watershed year" for health and social care services with "challenges and opportunities of huge significance".

sturti A hospital setting. There are five people in total, four in the foreground and one in the background. Two of the people in the foreground are sat on chairs. One is in hospital scrubs, while the other is not. They are both women. One has short white hair, while the other has long brown hair and glasses. They are both looking up at a man wearing a blue shirt and tie. He is holding a clipboard and has a stethoscope around his neck. The fourth person in the foreground is a man in hospital scrubs with dark hair. He is walking past. The person in the background has their back to the camera. sturti
The focus will be on bringing care as close as possible to those who need it

The reset plan sets out measures to counter unprecedented financial pressures, with a projected £600m gap between available funding and the cost of maintaining existing services this year.

It is designed to achieve £300m in savings in 2025/26, in addition to the £200m delivered in 2024/25.

The health minister said the programme will involve a suite of actions focused on improving Trust financial controls, reducing locum and agency costs, increasing workforce availability through absence reduction, removing unwarranted variation in clinical care and procurement, optimising medicines spend, reducing central budgets and administrative costs and maximising the income the HSC can attract through research and innovation.

Mike Nesbitt said he was not prepared to "face an ever-increasing gap between what our system costs and the funding we have available, resulting in continuing decline in our services, longer waiting lists, poorer outcomes, and an increasingly frustrated and demoralised workforce".

He said it makes it "all the more critical" that there is focus on resetting the Health and Social Care system to deliver stabilisation, reform and delivery.

Westend61 A pair of hands with blue gloves on. The hands are holding vials with dark red liquid in them. In the background there are a dozen or so vials.Westend61
Part of the plan involves supporting the early adoption of new medical procedures and treatments

The plan is focused on seven key areas

  • Prevention and seeing the citizen as an asset in that task
  • Investing in Primary Care, Community Care and Social Care; delivering mental, physical and social healthcare in a joined-up way
  • Being as effective and efficient as we can with the resources we have
  • Adopting a whole systems approach; to optimise the whole of NI's health and care workforce and estate, and to reduce the level of unwarranted clinical variation
  • Maximising digital investment and the strategic use of data
  • Exploiting opportunities for research, supporting early adoption of new medical procedures and treatments; with the opportunity to attract the inward investment this brings
  • Creating the system and structure that supports collaborative working and decision making

Members of the NI Confederation for Health and Social Care (NICON) - which speaks on behalf of health and social care organisations expressed support for the plan.

NICON's Professor Mark Taylor said a "crucial element to supporting delivery of this ambitious plan will be building a one-system approach".

He said key priorities would include "accessing system efficiencies, reducing unwarranted clinical variation, and embedding these new ways of working to deliver a more collaborative culture".

However he said there were "no overnight fixes, especially in the face of ever-growing demand, but this plan sets out a credible and pragmatic, if challenging, way forward."