The South Eastern HSC Trust is part of a wider health service family. This page explains who the various organisations are, their role, and how they fit together to provide public health and social care services to people in Northern Ireland.
In Northern Ireland, the National Health Service (NHS) is referred to as HSC or Health and Social Care. Just like the NHS, it is free at the point of delivery but in Northern Ireland it also provides social care services like home care services, family and children’s services, day care services and social work services.
The Department of Health has overall authority for health and social care services. Services are commissioned by the Strategic Planning and Performance Group and provided by five Health and Social Care Trusts – Belfast, South Eastern, Southern, Northern and Western.
The sixth Trust is the NI Ambulance Service (NIAS) who provide ambulance services.
Department of Health
With overall authority and allocation of government funding the Department of Health is one of 9 Northern Ireland Government Departments as part of the Northern Ireland Executive.
Health and Social Care is one of the three main business responsibilities of the Department which are:
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.
Read more about the Department of Health.
Strategic Planning and Performance Group
The Strategic Planning and Performance Group sits between the Department and the Trusts and is responsible for commissioning services, managing resources and performance improvement.
SPPG is also directly responsible for managing contracts for family health services provided by GPs, Dentists, Opticians and Community Pharmacists. These are all services not provided by Health and Social Care Trusts.
Inside SPPG there are Local Commissioning Groups (LCGs) focusing on the planning and resourcing of services. The LCGs cover the same geographical area as the five Health and Social Care Trusts.
HSC Trusts
The South Eastern HSC Trust is one of 6 Health and Social Care (HSC) Trusts which provide health and social services across Northern Ireland. While the Board commissions services, it’s the Trusts that actually provide them ‘on the ground’. Each Trust manages their own staff and services and controls its own budget.
The other 5 Trusts in Northern Ireland are:
Northern HSC Trust
Belfast HSC Trust
Southern HSC Trust
Western HSC Trust
Northern Ireland Ambulance Service
Public Health Agency (PHA)
The Public Health Agency has the key functions of improving health and wellbeing and health protection. It is also jointly responsible (with the SPPG) for the development of a fully integrated commissioning plan for the health and social care of Northern Ireland.
Read more about the Public Health Agency.
