Changing the health service

Everyday Ethics

Professor Raphael Bengoa returned to Northern Ireland on Tuesday. Eight and a half years after his team's 25 thousand word report, the need to transform health and social care in Northern Ireland is even more pressing. Politicians in the NI Executive accepted the report at the time, which explained how health services could be delivered differently and more effectively. Per-capita, the size waiting lists for people waiting more than 12 months for inpatient and outpatient appointments in Northern Ireland tower above similar figures for England, Scotland, Wales or the Republic of Ireland. What's blocking progress or slowing down reforms. Prof Joanne Murphy (University of Birmingham), Ann Watt (former civil servant and director of Pivotal think tank) and Dr Ursula Mason (chair of the Royal College of General Practitioners in NI) joined Audrey Carville to discuss change management, cultural change, and balancing competing priorities with a limited budget.