Recommendation 1

We are concerned about staff recruitment and retention in the health service, with thousands of empty posts and a reliance on costly agency staff. The equivalent of 26.3% of the Northern Ireland population are on waiting lists, with some going on to develop further health complications while they wait. While the Government’s announcement of £584 million towards the settling of pay claims for 2023/24 across the public sector - including in health - is welcome, questions remain as to the ability of the Northern Ireland Executive to fund future years’ settlements beyond this funding. We therefore invite both the Government and Northern Ireland Executive in response to this report to set out their assessment of this future funding. We also recommend the introduction of a statutory duty on the Department of Health to publish an assessment of its health and social care workforce projections.