The
Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety (
DHSSPS, , Ulster Scots:
Männystrie o Poustie, Resydènter Heisin an Fowk Siccar) is a devolved
Northern IrelandNorthern Ireland is a part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and it is situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
government department in the
Northern Ireland ExecutiveThe Northern Ireland Executive is the executive arm of the Northern Ireland Assembly, the devolved legislature for Northern Ireland. It is answerable to the Assembly and was established according to the terms of the Northern Ireland Act 1998...
. The minister with overall responsibility for the department is the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety.
About
"The Department’s mission is to improve the health and social well-being of the people of Northern Ireland. It endeavours to do so by ensuring the provision of appropriate health and social care services, both in clinical settings such as hospitals and GPs’ surgeries, and in the community through nursing, social work and other professional services. It also leads a major programme of cross-government action to improve the health and well-being of the population and reduce health inequalities. This includes interventions involving health promotion and education to encourage people to adopt activities, behaviours and attitudes which lead to better health and well-being. The aim is a population which is much more engaged in ensuring its own health and well-being."
The
incumbentThe incumbent, in politics, is the holder of a political office. This term is usually used in reference to elections, in which races can often be defined as being between an incumbent and non-incumbent. For example, in the 2004 United States presidential election, George W...
Minister is
Michael McGimpseyCllr Michael McGimpsey MLA is an Ulster Unionist Party Member of the Legislative Assembly for Belfast South who has twice served in the Northern Ireland Executive...
(
Ulster Unionist PartyThe Ulster Unionist Party is the more moderate of the two main unionist political parties in Northern Ireland...
).
Responsibilities
The Department has three main business responsibilities:
- Health and Social Care (HSC), which includes policy and legislation for hospitals, family practitioner services and community health and personal social services;
- Public Health, which covers policy, legislation and administrative action to promote and protect the health and well-being of the population; and
- Public Safety, which covers policy and legislation for fire and rescue services.
HSC Boards, HSC Trusts and agencies
- Health and Social Care in Northern Ireland
- Eastern Health and Social Services Board
- Belfast Health and Social Care Trust
The Belfast Trust is a Health and Social Care Trust covering Belfast, Northern Ireland. The Trust is one of five new NHS trusts which were created on 1 April, 2007 by the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety...
- South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust
- Northern Health and Social Services Board
- Northern Health and Social Care Trust
- Southern Health and Social Services Board
- Southern Health and Social Care Trust
- Western Health and Social Services Board
- Western Health and Social Care Trust
- Central Services Agency
- Health Promotion Agency
- Northern Ireland Ambulance Service
The Northern Ireland Ambulance Service is the ambulance service that serves the whole of Northern Ireland. As with other ambulance services in the United Kingdom, it does not charge its patients directly for its services, but instead receives funding through general taxation...
- Northern Ireland Blood Transfusion Service
History
Following a referendum on the
Belfast AgreementThe Agreement, also known as the Belfast Agreement or the Good Friday Agreement , and occasionally as the Stormont Agreement, was a major political development in the Northern Ireland peace process. It was signed in Belfast on 10 April 1998 by the British and Irish governments and endorsed by...
on 23 May 1998 and the granting of
Royal AssentThe granting of Royal Assent is the formal method by which a constitutional monarch completes the legislative process of lawmaking by formally assenting to an Act of Parliament. While the power to withhold Royal Assent was once exercised often, it is exceedingly rare in the modern, democratic...
to the
Northern Ireland Act 1998The Northern Ireland Act 1998 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which established a devolved legislature for Northern Ireland, the Northern Ireland Assembly, after decades of direct rule from Westminster....
on November 19 1998; a
Northern Ireland AssemblyThe Northern Ireland Assembly is the devolved legislature of Northern Ireland. It has power to legislate in a wide range of areas that are not explicitly reserved to the Parliament of the United Kingdom, and to appoint the Northern Ireland Executive...
and Northern Ireland Executive were established by the
LabourThe Labour Party is a centre-left political party in the United Kingdom. Founded at the start of the 20th century, it has been seen since 1920 as the principal party of the Left in England, Scotland and Wales, but not Northern Ireland, where it has only recently begun to organise again...
government of
Prime MinisterThe Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the political leader of the United Kingdom and the Head of Her Majesty's Government...
Tony BlairAnthony Charles Lynton "Tony" Blair is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
. The process was known as
devolutionDevolution is the statutory granting of powers from the central government of a Sovereign state to government at a subnational level, such as a regional, local, or state level...
and was set up to give Northern Ireland devolved legislative powers. DHSSPS is one of 11 devolved Northern Ireland Departments created in December 1999 by the
Northern Ireland Act 1998The Northern Ireland Act 1998 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which established a devolved legislature for Northern Ireland, the Northern Ireland Assembly, after decades of direct rule from Westminster....
and
The Departments (Northern Ireland) Order 1999The Departments Order 1999 set out new devolved Northern Ireland government departments and the Northern Ireland Executive.- Departments created :The Departments Order 1999 created the following departments:...
.
Between 12 February 2000 and 30 May 2000, and 15 October 2002 and 8 May 2007, however, devolution was suspended, and the Department became under the responsibility of
Direct RuleDirect rule is the term for colonisation by installing leaders from the mother country into the government of said countries' colonies,such as, during the late 18th and early 19th centuries, to the administration of Northern Ireland directly from Westminster, seat of United Kingdom government...
ministers of the
Northern Ireland OfficeThe Northern Ireland Office is a United Kingdom government department responsible for Northern Ireland affairs. The NIO is led by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, currently The Rt. Hon. Shaun Woodward, M.P., supported by the Minister of State for Northern Ireland, currently Paul...
. There were also two "technical" 24-hour periods of suspension on 11 August 2001 and 22 September 2001.
Ministers of Health, Social Services and Public Safety
| | Minister | Party | Took office | Left office |
|---|
| |
Bairbre de Brún Bairbre de Brún, is an Irish politician and member of the European Parliament, representing Northern Ireland.- Political work :Born in Dublin on 10 January 1954, de Brún became interested in the political landscape of Ireland and, in particular, the situation at the time in Northern Ireland...
|
|
2 December 1999 |
11 February 2000 |
| Office suspended |
| |
Bairbre de Brún Bairbre de Brún, is an Irish politician and member of the European Parliament, representing Northern Ireland.- Political work :Born in Dublin on 10 January 1954, de Brún became interested in the political landscape of Ireland and, in particular, the situation at the time in Northern Ireland...
|
|
30 May 2000 |
14 October 2002 |
| Office suspended |
| |
Michael McGimpsey Cllr Michael McGimpsey MLA is an Ulster Unionist Party Member of the Legislative Assembly for Belfast South who has twice served in the Northern Ireland Executive...
|
|
8 May 2007 |
Direct rule ministers
During the periods of suspension, the following ministers of the
Northern Ireland OfficeThe Northern Ireland Office is a United Kingdom government department responsible for Northern Ireland affairs. The NIO is led by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, currently The Rt. Hon. Shaun Woodward, M.P., supported by the Minister of State for Northern Ireland, currently Paul...
were responsible for the department:
- George Howarth
Rt Hon George Edward Howarth is a politician in the United Kingdom. He has been a Labour member of Parliament since a by-election in 1986, originally for Knowsley North until 1997, and for its replacement Knowsley North and Sefton East since then.Born in Merseyside, he was educated at the local...
(2000)
- Des Browne
Desmond "Des" Henry Browne is a British Labour politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for Kilmarnock and Loudoun since 1997...
(2002-03)
- Angela Smith
Angela Evans Smith is a politician in the United Kingdom. She is Labour and Co-operative Member of Parliament for Basildon...
(2003-05)
- Shaun Woodward
Shaun Anthony Woodward is a British Labour politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for St Helens South since 2001, and was promoted to the Cabinet on 28 June 2007 as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.-Early life:...
(2005-06)
- Paul Goggins
Paul Goggins is a British Labour Party politician. He is the Member of Parliament for Wythenshawe and Sale East, and Minister of State at the Northern Ireland Office.-Early life:...
(2006-07)
External links