Professor John Appleby had begun an independent review into health and social care services in Northern Ireland in 2005. He said: “There is strong political and public attachment to the NHS model in NI. “The HPSS is virtually the only provider of health and social care services here. “The private sector is small – with, for example, only two small private hospitals – and comparatively few people can afford private health insurance. “This will present real resource problems and this issue, which is a problem for health systems world-wide, can not be ignored in Northern Ireland.

Source: The Herald December 30, 2025 11:15 UTC