NEWS

(L-R): Dr Conor Gorman, Dr Eimear McLaverty, Health Minister Mike Nesbitt and Dr Joe Devlin at Glengormley Practice. Health Minister Mike Nesbitt has praised the growing role of primary care elective services in tackling hospital waiting lists, describing the impact on patients as “life changing” following a visit to a leading GP practice. During a visit to Glengormley Practice, the Minister saw first-hand how GPs are helping to reduce pressure on secondary care by treating p

Inset: North Antrim MLA Timothy Gaston Mounting pressure on NHS dentistry in North Antrim has been laid bare in the Assembly, with warnings that the system is no longer sustainable and is being steadily replaced by private provision. Speaking during a debate this week, North Antrim MLA Timothy Gaston said the current situation goes far beyond access issues, describing it as a structural failure that is already reshaping how dental care is delivered across communities includin

Minister Mike Nesbitt with the Public Health Agency Partnership and Engagement team at the ‘This is our health’ roadshow on Wednesday morning. A major new public engagement programme aimed at reshaping how health and social care operates in Northern Ireland has been launched, with people being asked to directly influence what services should provide — and what role individuals themselves can play in protecting them. Health Minister Mike Nesbitt formally launched the large-sca

Cancer patients in Northern Ireland are significantly less likely to survive if their illness is first detected during an emergency hospital admission rather than through planned referral routes, according to newly released data covering diagnoses between 2018 and 2022. Figures published today (Wednesday 29 April 2026) by the Northern Ireland Cancer Registry at Queen’s University Belfast show stark differences in survival outcomes depending on how patients enter the healthcar

Katrina Kelly, Assistant Director Nursing and User Experience Unit at the Northern Trust. The Northern Health and Social Care Trust is calling on patients, carers and service users across Northern Ireland to share their healthcare experiences as part of Patient Experience Week, highlighting how public feedback is already driving improvements in frontline services. Running from 27 April to 1 May, the awareness week puts a spotlight on the role patient voices play in shaping ca

Autistic people and families across Northern Ireland are still not seeing consistent, reliable support in their daily lives despite more than a decade of legislation and successive government strategies, a landmark independent report has found — warning that a persistent gap between policy and reality continues to drive delay, fragmentation and distress for autistic people and their families. The first Annual Report from the Independent Autism Reviewer, covering the period fr

Inset: North Antrim MP Jim Allister Cancer patients in Northern Ireland are facing the worst waiting times in the UK, with new analysis warning delays are now putting lives at risk — as political pressure mounts on Stormont to act. A major report published on Thursday (23 April) by Cancer Research UK has laid bare the scale of the crisis, revealing that cancer waiting times in Northern Ireland have been deteriorating for more than 16 years and are now the poorest across the U

Pictured at the anniversary party for the Roddens A care home that has supported generations of families in Ballymoney has marked a major milestone, celebrating 55 years of service with a poignant reunion that brought its history full circle. The Roddens, which opened in 1971, commemorated its anniversary last month by welcoming back its very first care assistant, in a celebration that highlighted both its legacy and its continuing role in healthcare across Northern Ireland.

Health Minister Mike Nesbitt with kinship carers. L-R Ruth McGuigan; Scot Hamilton; Anita Montgomery; Thomas Spence; Tracey McGuire; Brenda Slowey; Health Minister Mike Nesbitt; Kerrylee Weatherall, Interim Executive Director of Social Work. Health Minister Mike Nesbitt has paid tribute to the “compassion and commitment” of kinship foster carers as Northern Ireland marks its first dedicated Kinship Care Celebration Week, shining a spotlight on the thousands of relatives and f

Northern Ireland’s emergency departments have recorded their worst waiting times ever, with senior clinicians warning that lives are at risk unless urgent action is taken to address a deepening crisis across the health system. New figures covering January to March 2026 reveal a dramatic deterioration in performance, with patients facing unprecedented delays for treatment, admission, or discharge. The Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) has issued a stark warning to the

Emergency departments across Northern Ireland are facing escalating strain, with new Department of Health figures confirming rising demand, worsening waiting time performance, and a sharp increase in the number of patients enduring extreme delays — with the Northern Trust area, including Antrim Area Hospital and Causeway Hospital, firmly at the centre of the pressure. The latest statistics, covering January to March 2026, show only 40.2% of patients were treated, discharged o

A batch of a commonly prescribed blood pressure medication is being recalled across the UK after a manufacturing error raised the risk of patients unknowingly taking a lower dose than prescribed. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has ordered an immediate halt to the supply of one batch of Ramipril 10mg capsules , after it emerged that some packs may contain blister strips of the lower 5mg strength instead. Pharmacies and healthcare providers have

Patients struggling to access NHS dental care in Northern Ireland are set to see immediate improvements after Health Minister Mike Nesbitt announced an £8 million funding package aimed at stabilising services, expanding the workforce, and easing pressure on emergency departments. The investment, confirmed today, targets some of the most persistent pressures facing general dental services — from workforce shortages to reduced patient access — while longer-term structural refor

A new public health campaign urging people to protect themselves from harmful UV exposure has been launched across 500 community pharmacies in Northern Ireland, as figures show more than 4,000 people are diagnosed with skin cancer each year. Running throughout April and May, the ‘Care in the Sun’ initiative is being delivered through the Living Well pharmacy service, a partnership between the Public Health Agency (PHA), Community Pharmacy NI (CPNI), and the Department of Hea

Antrim Area Hospital ED, and Ballee Cemetery, Ballymena More than 1,000 people in Northern Ireland are estimated to have died in 2025 after waiting 12 hours or more in Emergency Departments, according to a major new report warning the system is no longer functioning safely. The Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) said 1,032 excess deaths were associated with long waits last year — the equivalent of almost 20 lives lost every week — as pressure inside hospitals contin

A free eight-week training academy aimed at preparing local people for careers in GP practices is returning to Ballymena, after delivering strong employment outcomes and sustained job placements for participants over the past year. The Northern GP Federation Support Unit (NFSU) has confirmed the second year of its Medical Administration Training Academy, delivered in partnership with Mid and East Antrim Labour Market Partnership (LMP) and funded by the Department for Communit

North Antrim MP Jim Allister KC A call for urgent Government action on lobular breast cancer research has been made by Jim Allister KC MP , who warned that patients are continuing to receive treatments not designed for their specific disease due to decades of underinvestment. The North Antrim MP said that while recent engagement between Ministers, senior scientists and the Lobular Moon Shot Project is welcome, it has so far failed to deliver the decisive commitment needed to

Promoting a three-day health check event at Ballymena Livestock Mart, back in 2010, before the official launch of a Northern Ireland wide Farm Families Health Checks service, Dr Brian Hunter, Kate Cairns (UFU), Yvonne Carson, and Sam McNabney, Ballymena Livestock Mart. The Northern Health and Social Care Trust is marking 20 years of dedicated work to improve the health and wellbeing of rural communities, with a legacy that has grown from local pilot projects into region-wide

Northern Ireland Ambulance Servi ce staff Estelle Smyth, Michael Patterson , and Derek Hamilton supporting Northern Trust colleagues on tree planting initiative Holywell Hospital in Antrim is set to undergo a major environmental transformation under a new Northern Health and Social Care Trust scheme that will see 7,000 native trees planted across the site over the next seven years. The large-scale planting programme, announced as part of the Trust’s wider sustainability strat

A former nurse who was living in Cullybackey at the time of the offence has been struck off by the profession’s regulator after a criminal conviction over indecent online messages referring to sexual activity with children. The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) has removed 56-year-old David Kenneth Paul McKeown from the register following a Fitness to Practise Committee hearing held on 17 March 2026. The regulator imposed a striking-off order, alongside an interim suspensio