Care Shield Compliance Press Desk

Northern Ireland sets out 33 adult care actions to 2028

A 10-year plan with 33 actions for 2025-2028 sets out what changes in homecare, care homes, unpaid carer support and Self-Directed Support.

By the Care Shield Compliance Press Desk··3 min read·Northern Ireland

The Department of Health has published a 10-year strategic plan for adult social care in Northern Ireland, with a three-year delivery plan containing 33 specific actions for 2025-2028. Two of those actions reach directly into how homecare and care homes are delivered, which means the current delivery model is explicitly under examination.

What has been published

The plan was published on 23 March 2026 by the Department of Health. It is overseen by the Social Care Collaborative Reform Board.

Six strategic priorities frame it:

  • Citizens at the heart of decision-making.
  • Supporting unpaid carers.
  • Prevention and early intervention.
  • Examining current homecare and care home delivery models.
  • Investing in the workforce.
  • Building a sustainable system.

Named actions include developing a preventative care framework, expanding digital and AI solutions, and increasing Self-Directed Support uptake.

The priority that should get your attention

Examining current homecare and care home delivery models is the one providers should read twice. Every other priority describes something being added. This one describes the existing model being reviewed.

That is not a threat, but it is a signal. When a department commits to examining a delivery model, the outcome is usually a change in how services are commissioned, contracted or configured. Providers who contribute evidence to that examination shape it. Providers who wait for the conclusion receive it.

Self-Directed Support and what it changes

Increasing SDS uptake shifts purchasing power towards individuals. For providers, the practical consequences are commercial rather than regulatory: more, smaller purchasing relationships; different expectations about flexibility and responsiveness; and a marketing problem you may not currently have, because individuals choose differently from commissioners.

Providers whose entire business comes from block or framework arrangements should think about whether they are set up to be chosen by a person rather than selected by a panel.

Digital and AI

Expanding digital and AI solutions is named as an action. Take that as a signal about the direction of infrastructure investment and about what data you will be expected to be able to produce. Providers still running paper care plans should treat this as advance notice rather than as somebody else's project.

What this means for you

  • Read the 33 actions and mark which ones touch your service directly. A three-year delivery plan is short enough to plan against.
  • Engage with the Social Care Collaborative Reform Board process through your representative body. The examination of delivery models is happening with or without provider input.
  • Get your own evidence in order on cost, outcomes and workforce. Any review of delivery models will be argued with data, and the department will not be short of its own.
  • Look at your readiness for individual purchasing decisions as SDS uptake increases: how you are found, how you explain what you do, how quickly you can respond to an individual enquiry.
  • Audit your digital position honestly. If your care records are paper, work out what it would take to change that and what it would cost, before the question is asked of you.
  • Put unpaid carer support into your own service planning. It is a named priority and providers who already work well with families are aligned with it.
  • Diary a review at the end of the 2025-2028 delivery period. A 10-year plan is delivered in three-year blocks, and the second block will be shaped by what happened in the first.

Where this came from

Plans to drive forward reform of adult social care published, Department of Health, 23 March 2026.

ShareLinkedInXFacebookWhatsAppEmail

Sources

  1. Plans to drive forward reform of adult social care published — Department of Health (Northern Ireland)

Questions people ask about this

What does examining delivery models mean for existing providers?

It means the way homecare and care homes are currently commissioned and configured is under review as one of six strategic priorities. No change has been announced. The practical response is to contribute evidence through your representative body and to have your own cost, outcome and workforce data ready to argue with.

How quickly will the 33 actions be delivered?

They sit in a three-year delivery plan covering 2025-2028, within a 10-year strategic plan published on 23 March 2026 and overseen by the Social Care Collaborative Reform Board. That is short enough to plan against directly rather than treating as a long-term aspiration.

Why does increasing Self-Directed Support matter commercially?

SDS moves purchasing decisions towards individuals and away from block or framework arrangements. That means more, smaller relationships, different expectations about flexibility, and being chosen by a person rather than selected by a panel. Providers reliant on block contracts should test whether they are set up for that.

How this was written. Care Shield’s press desk drafts from primary sources — the statute book, regulator publications and government announcements — and publishes automatically once every factual claim traces to a named source. The sources are listed above so you can check them. It is not legal advice, and it is not a substitute for reading the regulation that applies to your service. If you find something wrong, tell us at hello@careshieldcompliance.co.uk and we will correct it in public, on this page.

Related