Debate contribution: Neighbourhood Model of Care
Debate contribution by Mr Mike Nesbitt on .
- MLA
- Mr Mike Nesbitt
- Party at the time
- Ulster Unionist Party
- Date
- 13 January 2026
- Type
- Debate contribution (made as a minister)
- Business
- Oral Answers to Questions
- Heading
- Neighbourhood Model of Care
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5316144
Read the official Assembly record
Text
I made a commitment in the reset plan to developing a neighbourhood model to deliver greater levels of care to our citizens in their local communities. The model will see community pharmacies, GPs and their federations, voluntary and community organisations, trusts and independent providers working closely together in formal partnerships to provide integrated care. It is an important enabler for my commitment to shift left. Building a neighbourhood model will require providers to work in new ways. It will be built around 17 integrated neighbourhood teams, which will act as provider alliances. They will operate within trusts or within an area-integrated partnership board footprint at GP federation level. They will serve an average population of 115,000 people. Integrated neighbourhood teams will know the populations that they serve and will work together as a team of teams, leading and driving the delivery of the neighbourhood's core functions and priorities for care closer to home. They will work with smaller neighbourhoods within the footprint, which are the communities to which people feel they naturally belong. We will take a phased approach to developing and implementing the model. The design phase has involved significant research, stakeholder engagement and launching a call for evidence to identify existing good practice. In addition, learning from my Live Better initiative will be taken into account. We are about to move into phase 2, which is the build phase, identifying neighbourhood sites and activities and establishing systems for delivery, as well as the funding arrangements. Implementation will commence from April 2026, when we will have worked through the operational details and will move into the delivery phase.
269 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Assessment
Jev’s structured answers met the documented threshold for “not flagged”.
- Overall probability that the activity is being used to promote, exploit or escalate an identity-based controversy: 0.02 (flagging needs at least 0.70; at or below 0.30 is not flagged).
- None of the five culture-war criteria was met (each was below 0.60).
- No identity-based framing was identified (1.00).
- The overall probability was at or below the not-flagging threshold.
This is an AI-generated assessment of the text, made against published criteria. It is not a finding of fact about the MLA or their intentions. The Assembly record itself is the fact.
Jev’s structured answers
| Question | Probability | Met? |
|---|---|---|
| Identity framing | 0.02 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.01 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.01 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.01 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.02 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.59 | No |
| Overall judgement | 0.02 | At or below not-flagging threshold |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing (chosen) | 1.00 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.00 |
| Criticises or condemns it | 0.00 |
| Adopts it | 0.00 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-related subject | 1.00 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.00 |
| Parades, bonfires and commemorations | 0.00 |
| Irish language, Ulster-Scots and language policy | 0.00 |
| Sport (including the GAA), the arts and cultural bodies | 0.00 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 14:17 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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