NI Health Minister announces mutli-million pounds healthcare investments

Over the past week, Northern Ireland Health Minister Simon Hamilton has announced several multi-million pound investments which he hopes will have a major impact on areas such as waiting lists and mental health.

As part of a series of commitments, Mr Hamilton announced the creation of a £30million health and care Transformation Fund which will be used to invest in projects and initiatives which are focussed on innovation, prevention and collaboration within the sector.

Mr Hamilton said: “If we are to meet the challenges of an ageing population, a growth in chronic conditions and unhealthy lifestyles, and embrace the opportunities created by new technologies and treatments, we must increase the pace at which we are transforming our health service. The pressure on day to day services can make this transformation challenging to deliver. That is why I said in November we need to pursue a separate, ring-fenced Transformation Fund and I am delighted to announce it.”

The first allocation from the £30million fund will provide £2.3million to support the implementation of a new Medicines Optimisation Quality Framework (MOQF) for Northern Ireland, which the Minister also launched. The MOQF aims to support better health and wellbeing for all people in Northern Ireland through improvements in the appropriate, safe and effective use of medicines.

£41million investment in Ulster Hospital

The Minister has also announced  £41million of capital funding is being made available in 2016/17 to take forward the second phase of the construction of the Acute Services Block (ASB) at the Ulster Hospital.

The ASB will provide a new emergency department, inpatient radiology, assessment unit, and specialist wards. This will provide 170 beds including acute, observation and assessment beds, and support services with work on the new block commencing this year and opening to patients in 2020.

Funding for new world leading mental trauma service

Mr Hamilton also announced initial funding for a new mental trauma service for Northern Ireland.

Commenting, he said: “Last year, I tasked officials with creating an innovative service which will meet the needs of those suffering from mental trauma and can become a world leader. I wanted us to develop a service that built upon the wealth of experience in mental trauma developed in Northern Ireland as a result of the Troubles and establish a world leading mental trauma service as a fitting and lasting legacy.

“I am pleased to report that positive progress is being made. The intention is that the final model will be based on the internationally-recognised Stepped Care approach, with low-level interventions provided by voluntary and community organisations, integrated with more intensive interventions by qualified professionals within the HSC under the auspices of a new Regional Specialist Service. To assist in getting our new mental trauma service off the ground I can confirm that I have invested £175,000 of funding for early set-up costs.

“My key aims in establishing the service are:

• to comprehensively address the legacy of the Troubles and address unmet mental health needs;
• to improve individual, family and community experiences of mental health trauma care;
• to improve the psychological and social outcomes for individuals, their families and communities who have been traumatised as a result of the Troubles.

“I envisage that the service will allow for a range of interventions, meeting the spectrum of need across our community. It will involve leading edge, evidence-based treatments in line with NICE guidelines, with a focus on recovery of the individual.”

£190,000 New Investment in Genetic Testing

£190,000 has also been committed to ensure that patients from Northern Ireland have full access to new genetic tests for rare diseases.

The Minister said: “Such is the pace of development of new tests in genetics that last year alone the UK Genetic Testing Network (UKGTN) introduced 11 new tests for conditions such as heptology, metabolic disorders, neurology and ophthalmology. I am determined that Northern Ireland patients will have full access to these tests, where clinical benefits have been identified, and have therefore committed new investment of £190,000 in our genetics testing programme to provide routine access to UKGTN tests.”

The Minister also welcomed a report produced by the UK Rare Disease Forum which highlights progress across the England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland in regard to meeting the recommendations of the UK Strategy for Rare Diseases since its publication two years ago.

The Minister continued: “I am particularly pleased to announce this investment on International Rare Disease Day which coincides with publication of the first Progress Report on the UK Strategy for Rare Diseases from the UK Rare Disease Forum. The Report highlights progress made by my Department and other stakeholders in implementing the Northern Ireland Rare Disease Implementation Plan, including the significant investment of £3.3million to establish a Genomics Medicine Centre to enable our patients to participate in the UK 100,000 Genomes Project.

“My Department looks forward to building on the progress to date over the remaining four years of the UK Strategy and implementation of the early actions to which I committed £70,000 investment last year.”

Another £30m for tackling waiting lists 

Finally, Mr Hamilton has announced a further £30m of additional funding to go directly towards tackling waiting lists. This follows on from the investment of £40m at the end of 2015 and an extra £2m recently announced to assist autism waits.

The Minister said: “This further £30m follows the Executive’s earlier allocation of £40m. The combined £70m will ensure in the region of 150,000 extra assessments, tests and procedures. Also many children awaiting assessment for autism will benefit from the £2m I recently allocated for this specific area.

“Provisional figures for February 2016 show that those waiting more than 18 weeks for an outpatient appointment have fallen by 6% and those waiting longer than 26 weeks for an inpatient day case has fallen by 13%. It is clear that the investments we are directing towards waiting lists are making a difference. Slowly but surely we are getting to grips with waiting lists.”