Today at the Assembly Health Committee, the Health Minister Robin Swann MLA outlined plans to rebuild Health and Social Care services as soon as possible.

Robin Swann said:

“The impact of Covid-19 has been felt right across our health and social care services with significant additional backlogs building up in areas such as screening and elective care.

“So whilst we continue to battle the virus, I’ve also been clear with my officials that I want to see the resumption of services as quickly as possible. So all Trusts have also now submitted a draft phase 1 rebuild plan, but I was clear that wherever they could I wanted services immediately resumed. Because Now is not the time to be getting caught up in process – I’m acutely aware that Covid is not the only illness sadly claiming the lives of people across Northern Ireland.

“So it is critically important to recognise that this will not be a return to ‘business as usual’. Covid-19 will continue to impose significant constraints on the capacity to deliver services due to the need to adhere to social distancing and the need to use appropriate PPE.

“Rebuilding of services will involve increasing service capacity as quickly as possible across all programmes of care, within the prevailing Covid-19 conditions.

“However, the huge challenge we face as we move into the rebuilding phase is how to maintain the capacity to provide care for patients with COVID-19, while simultaneously increasing;

• other urgent clinical services,
• important routine diagnostics, and
• planned surgery. 
• While at the same time, we need to retain the ability to quickly re-purpose and ‘surge’ our capacity if required in the event of a second wave of covid.

“My Department is currently developing a Strategic Framework for Rebuilding Health and Social care services and I intend to publish that very shortly.  The aim will be to maximise service activity within the context of managing the ongoing Covid-19 situation;

• prioritising services;
• whilst embedding innovation and transformation;
• incorporating the Encompass Programme;
• developing contingencies; and
• planning for the future”