This dedicated page will keep you up to date on the Health and Social Care Board’s migration into the Department of Health on 1 April 2022.
As part of the wider transformation of Health and Social Care (HSC) services, the Health and Social Care Board (HSCB) will close on 31 March and responsibility for its functions will transfer to the Department of Health.
HSCB staff will undertake their functions from 1 April 2022 under the direction of the Department as part of the Strategic Planning and Performance Group (SPPG).
Working for the SPPG former HSCB staff will continue to undertake functions under the direction of the Department. This approach will streamline structures and reduce bureaucracy whilst providing continuity of service which minimises risk to the overall HSC system. Staff will retain existing HSC Terms and Conditions through employment by the Business Services Organisation (BSO).
See below Frequently Asked Questions re the migration of the HSCB to DoH:
The decision to close the Health and Social Care Board was taken in 2015 by then Health Minister Simon Hamilton. A review of commissioning arrangements identified a number of weaknesses in the current Health and Social Care system, including complex and bureaucratic structures and a lack of clarity of accountability and decision making.
Proposals to reform the planning and administration arrangements for the HSC, including the closure of the HSCB, were subject to public consultation later in 2015. The consultation report affirmed the need for change. In October 2016 the decision to close was reaffirmed by Michelle O’Neill as Health Minister. However progress stalled as the political institutions required to bring closure forward were not in place.
With the return of the NI Assembly in January 2020, Minister Swann endorsed the direction of travel. The Health and Social Care Bill (2021) was developed to provide the necessary legislation to effect the closure of the HSCB. The Bill allows for the Department to take responsibility for the functions of the Board and enables a transfer scheme to be developed to facilitate the transfer of staff to the BSO as host employer.
The Bill received Royal Assent on 2 February 2022 and the Health and Social Care Act (Northern Ireland) 2022 became law.
Details of the Bill’s legislative process can be found on the Northern Ireland Assembly’s website
For further information on the HSCB’s migration and the establishment of the Strategic Planning and Performance Group email OrgChgDir@health-ni.gov.uk.
The closure of the Board is the first step in a wider transformation which will consider how future HSC services will be planned and managed differently.
Work has already commenced on the development of a new Integrated Care System (ICS) for Northern Ireland which signals a new way of planning and managing our health and social care services based on the specific needs of the population.