News / Hamilton unveils £48m funding boost and NI health shake-up

Northern Ireland’s health and social care services have been given a £48m in-year boost, with much of the funding to be spent reducing waiting lists.

Health minister Simon Hamilton announced the additional funds following an agreement between the Assembly parties on welfare reform. This agreement has freed up funds to be allocated to health and other parts of the public sector. The bulk of the additional funding (£40m) will be spent relieving waiting lists. ?

The latest figures show that almost 63,000 patients were on the waiting list for inpatient admission at the end of September. More than half had been waiting more than 13 weeks for inpatient treatment. Some 230,000 patients were waiting for a first outpatient appointment, more than 12,000 for a clinical assessment and 90,000 for a diagnostic service.

The minister said the extra £40m would fund up to 40,000 additional assessments and between 10,000 and 15,000 additional operations and treatments. ‘This investment will improve the lives of thousands of people and marks the start of my plan to bring waiting lists under control,’ he said. ‘I recognise this will not be easy and unfortunately will take time to restore but I am determined to succeed.’

Mr Hamilton has called for health and social care funding to rise by £1bn to about £6bn in the next five years. He said he wished to use ‘a sizeable element’ of any new funding to transform how services are delivered, encourage innovation and invest in world-class facilities.

Also this month, Mr Hamilton announced his intention to introduce sweeping reform of the local commissioning system. This would include the closure of the Health and Social Care Board (which currently commissions services), giving health and social care trusts responsibility for planning and delivering care to their local populations.

Mr Hamilton said his proposals were about ‘structures, not people’. A directorate would be created within his department to focus on the financial and performance management of the trusts. ‘My proposals would mean that many of the board’s existing functions, and staff, would revert back to the department. Some would move to the new Public Health Agency, while others – especially those in respect of planning for need – will move to our trusts,’ he said.