Our vision is for neighbourhoods across Northern Ireland where people are enabled and supported to live healthier, more independent lives.”
The Department of Health NI has published a new Neighbourhood Model of Health and Wellbeing Framework setting in motion an approach to long-term change that will help people receive more proactive, preventative and specialist care closer to home, reducing the need for hospital attendance when appropriate and possible.
Announcing the plan, Health Minister Mike Nesbitt said, “With integrated neighbourhood teams of health, social care, VCSE and local council services working in partnership with local people and communities, focusing on identifying need, ensuring person centred support closer to home, improving outcomes, tackling health inequalities, managing demand on HSC services and building a resilient health and wellbeing system for the future.”
The funding approach includes redirecting HSC Trust resources away from hospitals into community settings, dedicated core funding for Neighbourhood Teams, invest-to-shift opportunities, and external funding and partnerships.
Last year the Minister published a Health and Social Care Reset Plan and made a commitment to developing a neighbourhood model of care. Read more on the reset plan here
A ‘Northern Ireland Neighbourhood Model of Care’ Call for Evidence in 2025 sought examples of neighbourhood health initiatives from across NI to gather evidence about the partnerships they involve, the impact achieved and capture lessons learned to inform future policy, planning and practice.
The additional information shared has been compiled into a Compendium of Good Practice with nearly 200 case studies of projects already in place in NI (you can find more information here
The Neighbourhood model has four key pillars: Integrated Neighbourhood Teams will act as provider alliances, Moving care closer to home will mean planning and redesigning clinical pathways, strengthening anticipatory and proactive care, A Neighbourhood innovation programme will provide data and digital infrastructure to encourage system-wide change, Neighbourhood relationships and connections will be central to the model.
Professor Cathy Harrison, Senior Responsible Officer for the Neighbourhood Programme said: “The Neighbourhood Model of Health and Wellbeing is about bringing care closer to where people live, supporting earlier help, strengthening prevention and making services feel more connected. By working together across all sectors, we can build a more responsive, communityfocused system for everyone in Northern Ireland.”
Implementation of the plan will begin this month (April 2026) and you can find out all the details on the Department of Health NI website here
