Fresh thinking in health
An overview of innovative ideas in health policy taken up by the main Assembly parties.
Interest groups regularly draw up policy proposals for healthcare, some of which make their way into political party manifestos. Northern Ireland’s integrated health and social care system has traditionally been distinct from its neighbours but parties are also open to ideas from the rest of the British Isles.
The DUP Assembly manifesto’s health section contains a long list of points, mostly on improving services. Innovations include a self-referral scheme for physiotherapy, following Scotland’s example. Patients contact Health Service physiotherapists directly and a questionnaire is used to assess need.
A DHSSPS spokeswoman confirmed that the department plans to run a pilot self-referral service for musculoskeletal physiotherapy, which will then be evaluated. If this proves successful, the actual service will be started in 2014-2015. A working group has been formed and is helping to draw up an action plan to bring the service about.
The party would also explore the potential for including Northern Ireland in the NHS Choices website (www.nhs.uk). This includes information on a range of conditions and a search facility for local service providers. At present, the site is ‘England only’.
The Transforming Your Care document proposed a similar web-based portal and the DHSSPS has been working on this alongside the main Health Service bodies. This is still in the planning stages and, in the meantime, information is available at www.nidirect.gov.uk
Sinn Féin proposes an all-island peri-natal mental health service which would ensure that mothers with mental health difficulties receive care along with their new-born children.
The SDLP would increase the percentage of the health budget spent on preventative health from 2 per cent to
4 per cent. The party also supports the implementation of the North/South feasibility study on health issues. This study was finalised in February 2009 but only published in December 2011.
It prioritises joint programmes on obesity and mental health and formal cross-border foster care arrangements to improve services in border areas.
Some aspects of the Transforming Your Care programme are opposed by the SDLP. The involvement of private health providers, in its view, is a move towards part-privatisation.
Northern Ireland has a high rate of missed appointments (10 per cent) and the UUP would introduce text alerts to tackle the problem. The party is calling for an all-party consensus on the future of health and social care. This would include a 10-year plan for services, drawn up after discussion with the health professions, trade unions and patient groups.
Alliance would ban all alcohol advertising and the party suggests social work placements for MLAs so that they can understand the pressures on the profession.
