Integrated care in Northern Ireland

The Minister was accompanied on a visit to The Holywood Arches Wellbeing and Treatment Centre in Belfast by The Right Honourable Andy Burnham MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Health and The Right Honourable Vernon Coaker MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.

Speaking at the event the Minister said: “It is a great pleasure to be able to show Mr Burnham and Mr Coaker first hand how our integrated health and social care system works for the population of Northern Ireland.

“Health and Care Centres adopt a one-stop-shop person-centred approach, and meet the needs of individuals in their local communities.

“They are locally accessible and provide integrated services including treatment, care and information; the development of chronic disease management programmes; and some diagnostic services currently provided in acute care.”

The Minister continued: “Much work that is currently carried out in hospitals could be dealt with in the community. A fundamental principle within the Transforming Your Care report is the shift of service provision, moving treatment and care out of the hospital sector and into the community, closer to people’s homes where it is appropriate to do so.

“By providing accessible integrated health and care services within the community in facilities such as this, and supported by multi-disciplinary teams, an increasing number of people can be supported to live independently. This will, in turn, help promote good health, improve management of long term conditions, reduce unnecessary hospitalisation and length of stay in hospitals and allow for early diagnosis and treatment.”