The Experiences of Women seeking International Protection Accessing Health & Social Care in NI report published
Date published:
The Health Minister has launched a report highlighting the difficulties that some women and children in the immigration system may face when accessing Health and Social Care services.
The report was commissioned by the Department of Health in 2024 to examine the experiences of women and children who arrived in Northern Ireland seeking international protection.
It explores the potential barriers that women and children in the People Seeking International Protection (PSIP) pathways may face when accessing services and makes a series of recommendations to help address them.
Health Minister Mike Nesbitt, who launched the report at an event in Parliament Buildings, said: "Health and Social Care plays a critical role in supporting safe immigration and integration journeys.
"What many may consider to be the most straightforward of processes can be an overwhelming experience for someone who has just arrived in Northern Ireland.
"This report is a much-welcomed addition to the conversation on how we can collectively support integration in Northern Ireland. It will provide a significant evidence base as we move forward to commission support services and tackle health inequalities for those who have chosen to make Northern Ireland their home."
In total, 167 women from 15 nationalities, including Syrian, Ukrainian, Sudanese, Afghan, and Iraqi communities, engaged with this work and had an opportunity to share their experiences of accessing Health and Social Care services, specifically Maternity Services, Public Health Nursing, Social Services and Mental Health Services, either for themselves or on behalf of children.
A total of 19 engagement sessions took place across Northern Ireland.
The report includes a number of recommendations centring on addressing three key issues - cultural, language and navigation.
These are:
- Carry out an audit of best practice across Trust areas;
- Establish a standardised approach to support services, ensuring equitable access across different regions;
- Promote best practices in interpreting services and translations;
- Embed the Cultural Competence Framework across Health & Social Care;
- Create, or optimise and strengthen, the existing central resource to support people seeking international protection in navigating health and social care services;
- Commission education programmes to build awareness of health conditions and preventative care, to be delivered within local community settings.
The Minister added: “The experiences of a marginalised group of people, whom some would refer to as hard to reach, have been systematically recorded in a way that allows the wider HSC family to develop and improve their services to meet the needs of their service users.
“My Department and the Trusts have already started to implement the recommendations of the report. To the women who gave their time and shared their lived experiences with us, I want to say thank you. I want you to know that we are listening to you, your voices are important to us and you have been heard.”
Notes to editors:
- The 'Make My Voice Heard: The Experiences of Women Accessing Health & Social Care in Northern Ireland can be read in full here: https://www.health-ni.gov.uk/publications/make-my-voice-heard-experiences-women-seeking-international-protection-accessing-health-social-care-northern-ireland
- This Personal and Public Involvement (PPI) project was commissioned by the Department of Health, through the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust, which led a regional steering group in partnership with five HSC Trusts in Northern Ireland, with input from the Public Health Agency (PHA) and the Office for the Mental Health Champion Northern Ireland.
- The HSCNI Leadership Centre was engaged to undertake the direct engagement and collation of the report and findings, to provide a neutral approach as it is not involved in the delivery of services to people seeking international protection and therefore could support open discussion.
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