The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) is a ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for government policy on health and adult social care matters in England, along with a few elements of the same matters which are not otherwise devolved to the Scottish Government, Welsh Government or Northern Ireland Executive. It oversees the English National Health Service (NHS). The department is led by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care with three ministers of state and three parliamentary under-secretaries of state.
The Royal Victoria Hospital commonly known as "the Royal", the "RVH" or "the Royal Belfast", is a hospital in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is managed by the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust. The hospital has a Regional Virus Centre, which is one of the four laboratories in the United Kingdom on the World Health Organization (WHO) list of laboratories able to perform PCR for rapid diagnosis of influenza A (H1N1) virus infection in humans.
The Northern Ireland Ambulance Service is an ambulance service that serves the whole of Northern Ireland, approximately 1.9 million people. As with other ambulance services in the United Kingdom, it does not charge its patients directly for its services, but instead receives funding through general taxation. It responds to medical emergencies in Northern Ireland with the 300-plus ambulance vehicles at its disposal. Its fleet includes mini-buses, ambulance officers' cars, support vehicles, RRVs and accident and emergency ambulances.
Health and Social Care is the publicly funded healthcare system in Northern Ireland. Although having been created separately to the National Health Service (NHS), it is nonetheless considered a part of the overall national health service in the United Kingdom. The Northern Ireland Executive through its Department of Health is responsible for its funding, while the Public Health Agency is the executive agency responsible for the provision of public health and social care services across Northern Ireland. It is free of charge to all citizens of Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom.
Altnagelvin Area Hospital is the main hospital for the North West of Northern Ireland. It is located in Waterside, Derry. It provides services to the city of Derry and County Londonderry, but also some specialist and acute services for parts of neighbouring County Donegal, County Tyrone, County Antrim and County Fermanagh. It is managed by the Western Health and Social Care Trust.
Michael Nesbitt, MLA is a Northern Irish politician and former broadcaster currently serving as the Minister of Health since 28 May 2024. He has been the Leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) since 30 August 2024 following his successful candidacy in the 2024 leadership election after previously serving in the role from 2012 to 2017. Nesbitt has been a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for Strangford since 2011.
Daisy Hill Hospital is an acute teaching hospital located in Newry, County Armagh, Northern Ireland.
The Belfast City Hospital in Belfast, Northern Ireland, is a 900-bed modern university teaching hospital providing local acute services and key regional specialities. Its distinctive orange tower block dominates the Belfast skyline being the third tallest habitable storeyed building in Northern Ireland. It has a focus on the development of regional cancer and renal services. It is managed by Belfast Health and Social Care Trust and is the largest general hospital in the United Kingdom. In April 2020, due to the global coronavirus pandemic, the tower block was designated one of the UK's Nightingale Hospitals.
Emergency medical services in the United Kingdom provide emergency care to people with acute illness or injury and are predominantly provided free at the point of use by the four National Health Services (NHS) of England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Emergency care including ambulance and emergency department treatment is only free to UK residents and a charge may be made to those not entitled to free NHS care.
The Belfast Health and Social Care Trust (BHSCT) is a health organisation covering Belfast, Northern Ireland. The trust is one of five new trusts which were created on 1 April 2007 by the then Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety (DHSSPS). The Belfast Trust employs 22,000 staff. It has responsibility for services to over 340,000 patients, provided at various hospitals including Belfast City Hospital, the Royal Victoria Hospital, the Mater Hospital and Musgrave Park Hospital.
Healthcare in the United Kingdom is a devolved matter, with England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales each having their own systems of publicly funded healthcare, funded by and accountable to separate governments and parliaments, together with smaller private sector and voluntary provision. As a result of each country having different policies and priorities, a variety of differences have developed between these systems since devolution.
The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom, comprising the NHS in England, NHS Scotland and NHS Wales. Health and Social Care in Northern Ireland was created separately and is often locally referred to as "the NHS". The original three systems were established in 1948 as part of major social reforms following the Second World War. The founding principles were that services should be comprehensive, universal and free at the point of delivery—a health service based on clinical need, not ability to pay. Each service provides a comprehensive range of health services, provided without charge for residents of the United Kingdom apart from dental treatment and optical care. In England, NHS patients have to pay prescription charges; some, such as those aged over 60, or those on certain state benefits, are exempt.
The Northern Health and Social Care Trust is a health and social care trust in Northern Ireland, responsible for providing services at various health facilities including Antrim Area Hospital, Braid Valley Care Complex, the Causeway Hospital and Mid-Ulster Hospital.
South West Acute Hospital is a local teaching hospital located in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It is managed by Western Health and Social Care Trust.
The South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust (SEHSCT) is a health organisation in Northern Ireland. Hospitals served by the Trust include Downe Hospital, Lagan Valley Hospital and Ulster Hospital. It has 14,000 employees and 800 patient beds. It has created a comprehensive electronic record system and uses a fleet of mobile medical carts supplied by Ergotron which are said to have improved the quality of nurses’ daily ward rounds.
The COVID-19 pandemic reached Northern Ireland in February 2020. At the start of the first official lockdown, the Department of Health reported 3,445 deaths overall among people who had recently tested positive. The Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency reported 5,749 where the death certificate mentioned COVID as one possible cause. Northern Ireland has the lowest COVID death rate per population in the United Kingdom. Covid statistics were very available at the start of the pandemic. The vast majority of deaths were among those over the age of 60 and almost half were in care homes. According to figures, about 1 in 12 of over 5,700 who died from the acute infection were under 65.
The following is a timeline of the COVID-19 pandemic in Northern Ireland during 2020. There are significant differences in the legislation and the reporting between the countries of the UK: England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales.
Professor Sir Michael Oliver McBride is a consultant physician who has served as the Chief Medical Officer for Northern Ireland since September 2006.
The following is a timeline of the COVID-19 pandemic in Northern Ireland during 2021. There are significant differences in the legislation and the reporting between the countries of the UK: England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales.
