£61m health boost as funding package to be released

Almost £130m is to be released for public service reform projects in Northern Ireland after the Stormont Executive reached agreement with the UK government.

The money is part of the financial package which accompanied the return of devolved government last year.

It included £235m ringfenced for projects which would increase the financial sustainability of public services or improve efficiency.

The Treasury has approved the first tranche of that money to be shared across six projects in health, education, justice and water infrastructure.

Finance Minister John O'Dowd said while the money "will in no way tackle the magnitude of issues at hand" it would still be significant in helping to "stimulate the wider transformation of public services".

"Transformation will take time and this is a step on that journey," he added.

The largest allocation of £61m is for multidisciplinary teams (MDT) in primary health care.

MDTs are partnership between GP practices and health trusts that involve specialists like physiotherapists and mental health practitioners working at GP clinics.

This means patients can see different specialists within the GP practice, reducing the need for referrals and appointments elsewhere.

The roll out of MDTs began with pilot projects in 2018.

Health Minister Mike Nesbitt called primary care MDTs "the biggest success story of recent years in transforming our health service".

"I believe that the MDT Programme, and the close collaboration between Trusts and GP Federations that underpins it, remains the key to stabilising vital Primary Care services in our communities, to ensure they can continue to provide high quality care to people, now and into the future."

O'Dowd said the funding would enable completion of the model in the seven existing MDT areas, and expansion into an additional five areas with a combined population coverage of about 670,000 people.

There is £27.5m for special educational needs (SEN) to develop pilot programmes focused on early intervention and for building a skilled education workforce.

The minister said the projects aimed to help address "the unsustainable financial trajectory of SEN".

There is just under £23m project for two justice system projects.

One is aimed at reducing delays in court cases, and the other is to examine the technical and policy implications of GPS location monitoring for those on bail or on licence.

There is £15m for a sustainable urban drainage pilot project and £3m to help tackle the backlogs at the Planning Appeals Commission.

The minister said the rest of the money would go to another round of projects later this year and to digital transformation projects which are currently being considered.

The Secretary of State Hilary Benn said: "Everyone recognises that the task of stabilising and transforming Northern Ireland's health and other public services is a priority.

"This allocation of UK government funding is a really important step towards this, and in this UK government, the executive will always have a partner that is committed to supporting this work every step of the way."