By Gillian Lewis, Head of the Northern Ireland Health Collective
We are delighted to represent and contribute as the Northern Ireland Health Collective (NIHC) to the recent NICON Reset Webinar Series session on Mobilising the Neighbourhood Model of Care for Northern Ireland, held on 11 February 2026. The discussion set out how the emerging model—established through the Health and Social Care Reset Plan—aims to bring care closer to communities, strengthen collaboration and establish Integrated Neighbourhood Teams across Northern Ireland.
As NIHC, we act as a network of networks for voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) organisations working across health, social care and community wellbeing. During the webinar, we highlighted that our sector is deeply rooted in neighbourhoods, supporting people across all life stages—from early years and families to mental health, longterm conditions, disability, carers and ageing well. VCSE organisations operate in places people know and trust, including homes, community centres, schools, faith buildings and Healthy Living Centres.
A key part of our contribution focused on the need for stable and credible conditions for partnership. The VCSE sector remains highly motivated to contribute to the neighbourhood model, but readiness depends on sustainability. Organisations across the sector continue to navigate shortterm funding cycles, increased demand, capacity pressures and uncertainty around future partnership arrangements. These challenges limit our ability to stretch further at a time when community need is rising. The neighbourhood model provides an opportunity to recognise VCSE capacity as core system infrastructure, essential to delivering integrated care.
Social prescribing also formed a significant part of the discussion. Northern Ireland evidence shows clear improvements in mental wellbeing, social connection and confidence in managing longterm conditions, particularly for people experiencing health inequalities. Yet many of the programmes demonstrating this impact were reduced or ended due to lack of sustained investment, resulting in the loss of highly trained staff and trusted referral pathways. This was not a failure of the approach—rather, a consequence of unstable support.
As neighbourhood teams embed social prescribing, we stressed the importance of ensuring it is not reduced to signposting alone. Effective practice depends on community capacity, clear roles, shared outcomes and flexible investment. When delivered well, VCSE-led social prescribing helps neighbourhood teams manage demand earlier, deliver support closer to home and bridge health, social care and wider determinants of health—outcomes central to the neighbourhood model.
For those wishing to explore the wider system context, the links to the full NICON webinar report and the complete NICON Reset Webinar Series is available on our resources page here.
As this work progresses, NIHC will continue to champion the contribution of the VCSE sector and advocate for neighbourhood care models that reflect community realities, value lived experience and create the conditions required for genuine partnership.
