Health Minister Mike Nesbitt has stated that "we can and must do more" to help people with neurological conditions in Northern Ireland, as he launched a public consultation on the final report of the Regional Review of Neurology services.

The Minister described the report's recommendations as a "roadmap to deliver an ambitious, long-term plan to drive improvements in services."

"Today I am publishing the final report of the Neurology Review and launching a public consultation on the report's analysis, key findings and proposed recommendations to drive improvements in future services," Minister Nesbitt said.

He acknowledged the significant challenges ahead: "It is clear that there is a long path ahead to ensure that people with neurological conditions in Northern Ireland have equitable access to responsive, person-centred and sustainable services. This is a once in a generation opportunity and it is critical that people engage with the consultation to inform a final Action Plan." The Minister described the report's assessment of current services as "sobering," noting that the "scale of improvement needed was substantial." He welcomed the vision outlined in the report for Neurology services to be person-centred, joined-up, responsive, and suitably resourced.

The review identifies four priority areas with supporting recommendations:

• Making Neurology a person-centred service.

• Developing additional workforce capacity within Neurology.

• Addressing gaps in current services.

• Using current resources more effectively.

While emphasising an ongoing focus on optimising current neurology resources, the Minister also acknowledged that full implementation of the report's recommendations will necessitate significant additional funding.

"The current constrained budget environment means that it will be highly challenging to find additional funding for this in the short term," he stated. "Therefore, I will need to secure significant additional funding in future budget exercises to take this forward. However, I will carefully consider funding to implement the Neurology Review in the context of competing priorities and future budgets made available to my department."

The public consultation on the Neurology Review will close at 5 pm on 6th August 2025. The Department of Health will be hosting a series of public engagement events across Northern Ireland in the coming months to present the report's findings and proposed recommendations, answer questions, and encourage participation in the consultation.