Improve Health and Well-being through Positive Partnerships

The new strategy, Improving Health and Well-being Through Positive Partnerships – A Strategy for the Allied Health Professions in Northern Ireland 2012 – 2017, will address the needs of this wide range of professions through a period of significant change in the HSC.

The Minister highlighted the need to provide safe, effective, high quality care against the backdrop of reform, modernisation and financial constraints.

Speaking at the launch in the Island Civic Centre Lisburn, the minister said: “Positive partnerships are essential for AHPs to play their key role with colleagues both as leaders and members of multi-disciplinary and multi-agency teams.

“Driving up quality of services and outcomes for patients is my underlying priority for health and social care. I want to see greater involvement of frontline professionals in decision making and service development.

“Given the diversity of the AHP disciplines and the wide-ranging nature of AHP practices, the Strategy does not seek to address in detail what services are provided to service users or how they are delivered.

“Instead it focuses on the approach to care. It outlines how, the AHP workforce can meet the challenges of planning and delivering high quality services that are person-centred, safe, fit for purpose and provide good value for money.”

The Minister concluded: “There is an opportunity for greater use of technology to support the delivery of services. We must capitalise on this and exploit other opportunities where technology can support the delivery of effective services.”

The strategy is available to download here