Towards a Hospital Network for Northern Ireland: Member and stakeholder views
24 February 2025
Summary of NICON member and stakeholder views on the proposed hospital framework for NI, gathered during a webinar held in February 2025.
Governance
Background
On 11 February 2025, NICON held a webinar on the NI Department of Health consultation, ‘Hospitals - Creating a Network for Better Outcomes’. Over 160 members and stakeholders registered for the event, chaired by NICON spokesperson, Prof Mark Taylor. Peter Jakobsen, Director of Health Service Transformation at the Department of Health presented on the framework and consultation questions.
The proposed framework categorises hospitals into four main types (Local Hospital, Area Hospital, General Hospitals, and Regional Centres). Each would offer a set of core services and, together, would operate as one integrated hospital network.
Key points
- A Hospital Network could be instrumental in helping to deliver the ‘shift left’ in NI: moving from treatment to prevention; hospital to communities; and analogue to digital.
- Attendees were largely in agreement on the need and rationale for change: to progress wider transformation efforts and ensure our system is well-equipped to meet the needs of an aging population; to improve safe and timely access to the right care; to make the best possible use of available resources; and to avoid unplanned service change/collapse.
- However, these changes cannot happen in isolation.