Response to Proposals for Health and Social Services reform in Northern Ireland

The process of the Review of Public Administration has been a long and uncertain one and we welcome a definitive set of proposals from a local health minister. We, together with CDHN, have held a series of six consultation events across Northern Ireland and the input from these has informed our response.

What NICVA is most keen to see from health and social services is a healthier population with a better quality of life. Since, according to the King’s Fund, 80% of illness is preventable, we have long advocated a switch from an ‘illness service’ to a policy environment that promotes health and wellbeing, enables the maintenance of good health and tackles health inequalities.

Whether structural changes will make any difference to outcomes is a moot point at this juncture. It should be ensured, at the very least, that disruptive change and new structures should not make the situation any worse. If a shift towards proactively maintaining health could genuinely take place under the proposed new system it would be a major achievement. However, this process must be about improved outcomes and reducing health inequalities. These are not often mentioned in the consultation document, so it is unclear where responsibility would lie.