Public Consultations

Medicines have a vital role in helping to prevent, treat, and cure disease. They are our most common medical intervention and are relied upon to support health and wellbeing throughout life. However, medicines costs in Northern Ireland (NI) are increasing annually and have reached an all-time high of £875 million per year. We need to take action to protect access to medicines for the future.

Despite efforts to improve the efficient use of medicines in NI, our prescribing rates and costs per person remain consistently higher than in other countries within the United Kingdom. Without change, the Health and Social Care (HSC) service will struggle to continue funding expensive new medicines and technologies and keep up with the demand of an increasing and ageing population. Furthermore, the environmental impact of medications is significant, accounting for approximately 25% of carbon emissions within the National Health Service. Prescription medicines cannot be re-used by the HSC after supply to patients, levels of waste are too high, and there is a pressing need to reduce the carbon footprint of medicines and mitigate environmental risks.

This strategy sets out what we intend to do to help ensure the sustainable use of medicines and embed a culture of valuing medicines within our population and the HSC.

The aim is to embed sustainable practice into all health and social care settings, promoting a culture that:

• Allows equitable access to appropriate, safe and cost-effective medicines.
• Involves patients in decisions about their medicines, promotes preventive care, and offers options alongside prescribed medicines.
• Reduces waste and the environmental impact of medicines.
• Drives improvement through data, technology, research and innovation.

Businesses and citizens all benefit from the public services and amenities provided by the government. Contributing to these services helps ensure they remain available and continue to improve for the future.

The Department of Health (DoH) is therefore seeking views on ‘Valuing Medicines – A Strategy for the Sustainable use of Medicines in Northern Ireland’. Please note that it is advised that respondents should first read the consultation document before attempting to respond to these consultation questions.

Why your views matter

Your voice matters, and your perspective is invaluable in designing a strategy for the sustainable use of medicines in NI. It is really important to have your say in how public services are shaped. The decisions made today will have far-reaching consequences for generations to come.

The closing date for responses is 26 February 2025

Click here to access the consultation

Our health system is on a journey and change is coming. Changes will be based on advances in health and social care and taking account of what the public and health professionals are telling us. The ambition, always, is delivery better outcomes: for patients, service users and our wonderful and diverse healthcare workforce.  Although health and social care practices have evolved over the decades, the regional infrastructure supporting these services has not kept pace. Balanced by what we can afford, we are committed to deliver for Northern Ireland’s citizens the right treatment in the right place, at the right time. Delivering locally where possible in peoples’ own home, through General Practitioner (GP) services, community pharmacy and centrally (accessible in only one place anywhere in Northern Ireland or limited sites) only where necessary, we aim to deliver safe, sustainable, high-quality health and social care services.

The purpose of this consultation document is to support widespread engagement with communities, clinicians, and society as a whole on Why we need to reconfigure our Hospitals; How we will manage our hospital system as an integrated network; What pathways there are for citizens to access hospital services and how they can travel there; Where those services are and will be delivered; and When future service reviews will take place to inform future reconfiguration. This will become the basis and strategic context for current and future service reconfigurations.

This consultation document is one important piece of the puzzle. We recognise that we need improvements across population health, social care, primary and community care and mental health, alongside a well-functioning hospital network. In order to reform our health and social care system, improve population health and put our entire system on a sustainable footing; it will take sustained effort, funding and a collaborative cross-Executive approach.. There is no single ‘silver bullet’.

With this in mind, your thoughts and feedback on the proposals within this framework are very important in helping to create a hospital network to achieve better outcomes for all.

Why your views matter

The Department is seeking views on the proposals within this framework document with a view to creating a hospital network to achieve better outcomes for all.

The Department of Health is seeking views on “Valuing Medicines – A Strategy for the Sustainable Use of Medicines in Northern Ireland”. This consultation will be open for 12 weeks and seeks feedback on the strategy, which will inform further review and finalisation ahead of publication.

Medicines have a vital role in helping to prevent, treat, and cure disease. They are our most common medical intervention and are relied upon to support health and wellbeing throughout life. However, medicines costs in Northern Ireland (NI) are increasing annually and have reached an all-time high of £875 million per year. We need to take action to protect access to medicines for the future.

Despite efforts to improve the efficient use of medicines in NI, our prescribing rates and costs per person remain consistently higher than in other countries within the United Kingdom. Without change, the Health and Social Care (HSC) service will struggle to continue funding expensive new medicines and technologies and keep up with the demand of an increasing and ageing population. Furthermore, the environmental impact of medications is significant, accounting for approximately 25% of carbon emissions within the National Health Service. Prescription medicines cannot be re-used by the HSC after supply to patients, levels of waste are too high, and there is a pressing need to reduce the carbon footprint of medicines and mitigate environmental risks.

The aim of the strategy is to embed sustainable practice into all health and social care settings, promoting a culture that:

• Allows equitable access to appropriate, safe and cost-effective medicines.
• Involves patients in decisions about their medicines, promotes preventive care, and offers options alongside prescribed medicines.
• Reduces waste and the environmental impact of medicines.
• Drives improvement through data, technology, research and innovation.

With this in mind, your thoughts and feedback on the recommendations within this strategy are very important in helping to ensure the sustainable use of medicines and embed a culture of valuing medicines within our population and the HSC.

The closing date for responses is 26 February 2025