An “e-Pharmacy” initiative is among six projects designed to transform public services that are benefiting from a £102.6 million funding pot.

It is set to receive the largest portion (£42 million) to deliver electronic prescription transfer and a new digital platform for community pharmacy clinical services.

The other allocations include £29.2 million for the Together for Families project, a partnership to establish a Northern Ireland-wide model to ensure families can access the help they need, and £16 million for a Pathways to Work and Wellbeing proposal to support more people with ill-health and disabilities to enter and remain in employment.

Meanwhile, £6 million was allocated for a digital workplace programme to modernise records and information management across the Civil Service, £5.3 million for a data linkage office to deliver two pathfinder projects to examine the capability to safely link data across departments and £4 million for a bovine tuberculosis research project.

placeholder image — Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Hilary Benn said the £102.6 million funding pot was a 'clear signal of this government’s commitment to supporting the Executive to deliver better public services for the people of Northern Ireland'

This funding represents the final allocation of the £235 million transformation fund, provided by the UK Government as part of the restoration of the Northern Ireland Executive package in 2024.

Secretary of State Hilary Benn described a “significant milestone for Northern Ireland, and a clear signal of this government’s commitment to supporting the Executive to deliver better public services for the people of Northern Ireland”.

“At the heart of this funding is a simple goal: making public services work better for the people who rely on them every day,” he said.

Stormont Finance Minister John O’Dowd said the transformation of public services aims to make them more effective and sustainable.

“The Executive is committed to changing how we deliver services to improve lives, strengthen communities and achieve better outcomes,” he said.

“At its heart, transformation is about working differently to make services more effective, resilient and sustainable, especially in a time of constrained public finances.”

Mr O’Dowd said last year he announced £129 million from the Transformation Fund for six public sector projects across healthcare, special educational needs, justice and infrastructure.

“I am now pleased to announce the second tranche of funding and a further £102.6 million, for an additional six projects to support the continued transformation of our services. This is complemented by a further £30 million from the National Lottery community fund and £5.6 million from the Shared Island Fund,” he added.

“The Transformation Fund is a key step in improving public services and delivering the reforms people need and deserve.

“This investment will not only deliver greater efficiency and long-term savings across government, but will also strengthen healthcare, support families, help our farmers and the agri-food sector, and lay the groundwork for bold, system-wide change in the years ahead.”

Health Minister Mike Nesbitt welcomed the funding.

He said: “With over 45 million items prescribed and dispensed annually across primary care in Northern Ireland, transitioning from paper prescriptions to a digital system will genuinely transform patient experience.

“This project and the new digital platform will help to make health and social care as safe as possible, accelerate primary care reform and help support our move towards a neighbourhood model of care for primary, community and social care.”