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Health budget will mean 'more of the same' says minister

PA Media A photo of Mike Nesbitt. With grey hair and black thin glasses, he wears a black suit, navy tie and on his lapel he's has a red poppy pin. PA Media
The health minister said he has £400m less than he needs

The health minister has warned that his budget allocation means that the health and social care system is facing "more of the same" this year.

The Northern Ireland Executive agreed a draft budget in December, and individual ministers will now publish impact assessments for their departments.

Mike Nesbitt said he has £400m less than he needs to maintain services at existing levels.

He added that health trusts will need to find £200m of savings with the hope that the rest of the shortfall is made up through budget reallocations.

PA Media Ambulances lined up outside a hospital. Three are facing toward the camera, one has its back to the camera. They have florescent livery.PA Media
On Monday the first minister said the situation in the health system was "dire and diabolical"

Patients at Northern Ireland's hospitals have faced long waits on trolleys and in ambulances in recent weeks.

On Monday the first minister said the situation was "dire and diabolical".

The Department of Health gets more than half of Stormont's budget for spending on day-to-day services, which in 2025/26 will be £8.4bn, an increase of 2.6% compared to spending in this financial year.

However, Nesbitt said significant increases in costs will be faced due to factors including pay and price inflation and increased National Insurance costs for GPs, pharmacists, and social care providers.

Research published by the NI Fiscal Council in 2022 also suggests that the ageing population adds 0.6% to Northern Ireland's healthcare costs every year.

Nesbitt warned the draft budget provides no additional funding for waiting list reduction initiatives or for trying to invest in GPs and social care.

"The 2025-26 draft budget does not enable us to make this shift," he said.

"Instead, it will leave us again fighting to identify sufficient savings to meet the pay expectations of our workforce and protect the services that we currently have.

"As we have seen from the experience of the last few weeks, that approach is not working."

He also urged MLAs to support transformation initiatives when they are proposed, saying that "demanding unspecified action is not the answer" while "simultaneously opposing actual proposed changes to hospital services".