Recommendation COVID-M2.1: NI CMO Independence
From Module 2: Core Decision-Making, published 20 November 2025.
Recommendation
The Department of Health (Northern Ireland) should reconstitute the role of the Chief Medical Officer for Northern Ireland as an independent advisory role. The Chief Medical Officer for Northern Ireland should not have managerial responsibilities within the Department of Health (Northern Ireland).
In brief (written by this site)
In March 2026, the Northern Ireland Executive accepted the recommendation, stating that following departmental restructuring the Chief Medical Officer no longer held managerial responsibility for departmental directorates, though further options to safeguard the role's independent advisory status were being developed before establishing an implementation timeframe (Northern Ireland Executive response, Mar 2026). The record holds no update since the Northern Ireland Executive's response of March 2026 (Northern Ireland Executive response, Mar 2026).
Sources
AI-generated summary of the record on this page, checked by a second model and automatic checks, 26 Sep 2026. The record below is the sources' own words.
Government response
This recommendation is not for the UK government to respond to.
Accepted
Following restructuring of the Department of Health in November 2023, the Population Health Directorate, the Health Protection Directorate, the Emergency Planning Resilience and Response Directorate and the Quality, Safety and Improvement Directorate were moved out of the Chief Medical Officer’s Group. Responsibility for these Directorates now lies within other Groups in the Department. The Chief Medical Officer continues to provide professional expert technical advice to the relevant policy teams but no longer holds managerial responsibility for these Directorates.
Building on the remit and managerial changes already implemented within the Chief Medical Officer’s Group, the Department of Health is developing further options to enhance and safeguard the independence of the Chief Medical Officer’s advisory role, which will be discussed with the Permanent Secretary. Once a decision on next steps has been made, a timeframe for implementation will be developed.
Professor Helen McCarthy was appointed as the first Chief Scientific and Technology Adviser (CSTA) for here in June 2024. The CSTA operates across all NI Departments, co-ordinating with existing departmental science advisers in Health and the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA). The role also includes providing advice to Ministers and serving as Head of Profession for the scientific community within the Northern Ireland Civil Service. CSTA also chairs the NI Science & Technology Network, co-ordinates the regional research strategy and represents NI in scientific forums across the UK, Europe and globally.
How this response relates to the recommendation
Site note: The Northern Ireland Executive's response to the Module 2 report, published on 18 March 2026. It prints its position ("Accepted", "Remains under consideration") on a line above each response, and the row carries that line with the response. Read from the Internet Archive's capture, as the Executive Office does not allow automated fetching. The passage covers Northern Ireland only.
Delivery
No statement on delivery from Department of Health NI has been found in the sources searched (last checked 20 October 2026). This is separate from the response above.
Responsible bodies
Themes and tags
Who has spoken
- UK Government
Response - Northern Ireland Executive
Response