IHRD-85 Response Accepted

Deputy CMO for Children's Healthcare

Recommendation

The Department should appoint a Deputy Chief Medical Officer with specific responsibility for children's healthcare.

Published Evidence Summary
The following publicly available evidence relates to this recommendation:
Government response: Accepted. Last substantive update was January 2024. No recent public evidence of further progress.
Sources
Government response (2018-03-01): Accepted Source: https://www.health-ni.gov.uk/topics/ihrd-implementation-programme Text: Role considerations ongoing within Department of Health NI restructuring. Progress update (2024-01-31): In Progress Implementation status based on Department of Health NI Implementation Programme updates. Source: https://www.health-ni.gov.uk/topics/ihrd-implementation-programme
How was this evidence gathered?
Evidence searched by baseline-data-v1 on 26 May 2026
Checked data held on this site (government responses, progress updates, independent evidence)
External sources searched: www.health-ni.gov.uk
Jurisdiction
Northern Ireland
Response
Accepted
Accepted Department of Health NI
01 Mar 2018

Role considerations ongoing within Department of Health NI restructuring.

Read Full Response
Published Evidence

Published assessments of progress from inspectorates, select committees, official progress reports, and other sources. Source type badge indicates whether each assessment is independent or government self-reported.

Insufficient Progress
06 Feb 2026
Department of Health NI Other

No Deputy CMO for children's healthcare appointed. The role remains under consideration within DoH NI restructuring after 8 years.

View detailed findings

Recommendation 85 called for a Deputy Chief Medical Officer with specific responsibility for children's healthcare. As of February 2026, this role has not been created. It remains under consideration within Department of Health NI restructuring.

IHRD Implementation Programme View Source
Source
Inquiry Hyponatraemia Inquiry
Report Report of the Inquiry into Hyponatraemia-related Deaths 31 Jan 2018
View Source
Responsible Bodies
Department of Health NI Primary
Themes & Tags
Children's health staff shortages Underinvestment in Children's Social Care Leadership Paediatrics Department
Recommendation age 8.3 yrs
Last formal update 851 days ago