The new leader of Northern Ireland’s Department of Health says there is potential for the region to have one of the best health systems in the world.
Mike Farrar took up the position of permanent secretary in mid April, having previously held senior positions within the NHS in England.
Earlier on Wednesday, Stormont Health Minister Mike Nesbitt said his department is facing a projected budget shortfall of £600 million.
He said his permanent secretary is currently finalising financial plans that will be unprecedented in their scale and ambition, and involve an extremely difficult and, indeed, painful series of savings measures for HSC Trusts.
Mr Farrar emphasised while there are several big immediate challenges in the health service, he is optimistic about the future for the health service.
He said about half of the £600 million is in the health trusts where they have been running deficits, while £200 million is to meet recommended pay increases for health workers and £66 million for increased national insurance contributions.
“That’s come about largely because the budget that was voted for health this year really didn’t have an allowance at the scale of the pay awards we’re facing, and we haven’t in the past I think, really pushed as hard as we are now pushing to get real efficiency out of the system,” he said.
“On my watch, we’re going to take a stand and we’re going to try to live within our means but that takes a while to do.
“In the short term, I need some support.”
He said they hope to reduce costs and improve services in some areas and said cuts which will impact services will be kept as a “last resort”.
However, he voiced optimism that with a “full reset” the situation can be turned around.
“When you look at the investment which has been made in our information system, Encompass, I don’t know another country that has got all their providers on the same data platform, and we know data is going to be so important to us in the future,” he said.
“If you look at our universities and their work on life sciences, it is world leading.
“We have some fantastic assets, we just have to get through these immediate challenges, reset our health system so we’re not always coming back for more money, and then I think we have a brilliant chance at having a great health system.”
