WIREDGOV

The urgent need for a new longer-term funding model for the NHS will be the key message given by Stephen Dorrell, Chair of the NHS Confederation, today at the Northern Ireland Confederation of Health and Social Care annual conference (NICON) in Belfast.

In his address, he will explain to over 400 delegates, that inadequate funding since 2010 has left the NHS unable to meet demand in responding to the needs of patients today and has put untold pressure on staff. 

The former health secretary and past chair of the House of Commons Health Select Committee, Dorrell will say that the Confederation has been calling for a new funding model for some time and has brought together two independent organisations – the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) and the Health Foundation – to conduct a study into the funding needs of the UK’s health and care systems for the next 15 years. 

While recent short-term injections of cash are to be welcomed, Dorrell will outline why “one-off” approaches are not a sustainable solution. Keeping pace with demographic pressures alone will require an estimated average annual increase of around 5-6 per cent.

Recent Kings Fund research indicates massive public support for the NHS in general, with over 60 per cent of people supporting additional tax.  The priority now must be for government and the public to urgently debate how we adequately fund the NHS for future.

Tony Stevens, Chair of the Northern Ireland Confederation for Health and Social Care, said: “It is clear we need step change at a political and societal level to ensure greater investment in our services and a radical change in our approach to keeping people well. Northern Ireland’s Programme for Government, with its focus on outcomes, and the widely agreed policy, Health and Wellbeing 2026 – Delivering Together, provide a good beginning, but major change and ongoing political and public support are required, if people are to continue to enjoy the standard of health care they have come to expect. 

“This year we are celebrating 70 years of the NHS and in looking to the future, it is an opportune time to have this conversation.”

The two-day NI Confederation Conference will focus on the progress made to date on Health and Wellbeing 2026 - Delivering Together and delegates will hear from visiting experts, share emerging good practice and consider the way forward together.  

Key issues discussed over 30 sessions will include; public health, workforce, service design, funding, leadership and culture.  There will also be specific updates on the new HSC leadership strategy, preparation work for elective care centres and service reconfigurations, and a key focus on the new digital transformation programme, Encompass, which will provide a bedrock for how we transform services.

Stevens added: “Conference every year is an important event for us – it allows leaders from every part of our system to come together to refocus on the vision for transformation and mark the significant progress being made.  The work we are doing now will form the foundation of the way services will be delivered in the future.  70 years ago, no one thought the NHS would last – it is up to this generation to now take our services into the future.”