Public Health in Northern Ireland - Dr. Paul Darragh
Public Health in Northern Ireland Fully integrated Health, Social Services and Primary Care Equivalent services to rest of UK N.H.S Funding via Barnett formula - Scotland, Wales, N. Ireland – own administration Share land boundary with ROI – cross border issues. Population 1.7m, significant legacy of deprivation, “troubles” Overall Health and Social Care budget approx £4.5b Demography overall aging population Endeavour to be as self-sufficient as possible in Regional Specialities Tied into N.I.C.E
Our Political Structures Government - Assembly – All 5 Political Parties have Ministers Department of Health and Social Services DHSS Own minister Assembly Health Committee Public Health Agency – sponsor C.M.O in D.H.S.S Warm, supportive, co-operative relationship Local Authorities Involvement Investing for Health / New Public Health Strategy / Joint Action / Shaping wider health policy
Public Health Agency Director of Public Health, Chief Executive and Director of Nursing (160 Staff) Cover all 3 domains of Public Health and R&D Health Protection – HPU and Regional Epidemiology and Policy (9 consultants) Health Improvement – (65 staff) Service Development and Screening and Commissioning (19 consultants) R&D for Health and Social Care in N.I and National projects Processing/Monitoring/Funding
Health Protection Health Protection unit - ID: Environmental Health and Emergency Planning Regional Epidemiology - ID: Intelligence Gathering : Interpretation Policy on HCAI Control : Monitoring / Policing / Hospitals / Community Prevention Imm. and Vacc. Working well - Resilience / Sustainability / Cross-Cover - Health protection staff 99% - H5N1; C.Diff; MRSA etc - Pseudomonas – all neonatal units at the same time Severe weather incidents Could do better: - Staff still to often Firefighting - Need to improve epidemiology to get ahead of events
Influenza Vaccine Uptake Over 65 yrs & (<65yr at risk groups)
Health Improvement 4 Building Blocks as per Marmot Give every child and young person the best start in life Work with others to ensure a decent standard of living Build sustainable communities Make healthy choices easier
Adult Smoking By Gender NI from1983 Adult = 16+
Good At Early Years: New Parent Programme Family Nurse Partnership Roots of Empathy Infant Metal Health Training Sure Start Primary Care Management of: BP; Diabetes; Cholesterol; Cardiovascular Disease ; Stroke
Need Help With Suicide and Mental Health Obesity Inequalities
Service Development and Screening Going Well: Commissioning – Local Commissioning (5 LCG’s) and Specialist Commissioning Screening – Progress on all national screening initiatives adult/children - Robust Q.A. in place to support screening Host SpR Training Scheme – Centre of Excellence University and in service training
Service Development and Screening Need Support: Large Scale Reviews - Pathology - Imaging Regional/ Supra-Regional Service development Maintaining Connections with rest of G.B
R&D Unit Support Local Research Community Input to National Awarding Bodies Ensuring Public Health Influence on Research Agenda
Questions ?