Reforming health and social care is about much more than
reconfiguring hospital services, Health Minister has underlined.
The Minister was speaking ahead of a conference today, as
Professor Rafael Bengoa is welcomed back to Northern Ireland.
Professor Bengoa headed the panel which produced the 2016 report
Systems not Structures, setting out the need for health
transformation.
He will be the keynote guest speaker at today's conference, held
in La Mon Hotel.
Mr Nesbitt said: “One of my first initiatives on becoming
Minister was to invite Professor Bengoa back to NI, to help us
reboot the reform agenda and to provide his assessment of what
needs to be done.
“Systems not Structures was about much more than our hospitals.
It's about fundamentally rebalancing provision to provide more
care at community level, to focus on prevention rather than
treatment, and to help people manage conditions and live long
healthy lives. Achieving this shift is the work of a generation.”
Professor Bengoa said: “I very much welcome the opportunity to
return and to see that health transformation remains an
overriding priority.
“I am, of course, very aware of the challenges Northern Ireland's
health service has faced over the period since 2016. It is by no
means unique in that regard. Right across Europe, there are major
struggles on a number of fronts. These include balancing short
term pressures with long term reform needs, dealing with growing
demand and greater patient complexity, and recovering from the
impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The analysis in Systems Not Structures is just as valid today as
when it was published and the need for transformation, backed by
sustained resources, is ever more pressing.”
The Health Minister added that today's conference will also
discuss important ongoing innovations in health and social care,
including the Live Better initiative on health inequalities,
Multi-Disciplinary teams in primary care, developments in
community pharmacy care and the introduction of the Integrated
Care System.
Mr Nesbitt added: “Reconfiguring hospital services remains an
important part of the overall jigsaw, as I emphasised last week
when I launched the ‘Hospitals – Creating a Network for Better
Outcomes' document for public consultation. I have also on many
occasions stressed that improving population health and tackling
health inequalities are among my key areas of focus. We can only
hope to achieve this, and deliver meaningful reform, if we adopt
a whole government approach with support right across the
Executive, the wider public sector, our communities and our
clinicians.”
