We can and must do more to help people with a neurological
condition, Health Minister has said.
The Minister was speaking as he launched a public consultation on
the final report of the Regional Review of Neurology services,
which he also published today.
In a Written Ministerial Statement marking the publication, the
Minister said the report's recommendations provided a roadmap to
deliver an ambitious, long-term plan to drive improvements in
services.
“Today I am publishing the final report of the Neurology
Review and launching a public consultation on the report's
analysis, key findings and proposed recommendations to drive
improvements in future services,” the Minister said.
“It is clear that there is a long path ahead to ensure
that people with neurological conditions in Northern Ireland have
equitable access to responsive, person-centred and sustainable
services.
“This is a once in a generation opportunity and it is
critical that people engage with the consultation to inform a
final Action Plan.”
The Minister said the report's analysis of current services was
sobering and the scale of improvement needed was substantial.
He welcomed the vision outlined in the report that Neurology
services should be person-centred, joined-up, responsive and
suitably resourced.
Four priority areas with supporting recommendations have been
identified to support the delivery of the vision contained within
the report.
These are:
- Making Neurology a person-centred service;
- Developing additional workforce capacity within Neurology;
- Addressing gaps in current services;
- Using current resources more effectively
The Minister also noted that, while there will be an ongoing
focus on using current neurology resources more effectively, the
full implementation of the report's recommendations will require
significant additional funding.
“The current constrained budget environment means that it
will be highly challenging to find additional funding for this in
the short term. Therefore, I will need to secure significant
additional funding in future budget exercises to take this
forward. However, I will carefully consider funding to implement
the Neurology Review in the context of competing priorities and
future budgets made available to my department,” he
added.
The consultation will close at 5pm on 6 August 2025.
The Department is hosting a number of public engagement events to
support the consultation at several locations across Northern
Ireland over the coming months. These events will provide the
opportunity to present the analysis, findings and proposed
recommendations set out in the report; ask questions from an
expert panel, and support and promote engagement in the
consultation.
Notes to editors:
- The Neurology Review report, consultation documents, details
of the public engagement events and details on how to respond,
can be found at https://www.health-ni.gov.uk/consultations/consultation-regional-review-neurology-services-final-report
- The Minister's Written Statement can be found in full
at https://www.health-ni.gov.uk/publications/doh-ministerial-announcements-and-statements-2025
- In the context of a significant shortfall in outpatient
clinic capacity, challenges in terms of waiting list size, length
of wait and the vulnerabilities in Neurology Services, the
Department established a Regional Review of Neurology Services in
December 2018. The Review was tasked with identifying the optimum
configuration of adult Neurology Services for the next 10-15
years.
- Completion of the Review was delayed due to the redeployment
of resources in response to COVID-19 pressures. Capacity within
the Neurology workforce to lead on aspects of the Review also
constrained progress.
- The Department has been committed to ensuring the voice of
people with neurological conditions and carers informed the
Review. The Chair of the Northern Ireland Neurological Charities
Alliance (niNCA) joined the Review Team at the outset. In
addition, we engaged directly with service users through the
Patient and Client Council Neurology Engagement Project during
the course of the Review.
