Health Minister welcomes additional £100m Transformation and National Lottery funding

Date published:
26 May 2026

Both initiatives have received funding through the Public Service Transformation Bid as follows:

• £42 million for ePharmacy and;

• £29.2 million for Together for Families.

  The National Lottery Community Fund has also committed an additional £30 million to the Together for Families project – its first strategic investment of this kind in Northern Ireland. 

The ePharmacy Primary Care Digital Reform Programme will deliver an electronic prescription transfer programme, meaning paper prescriptions will be a thing of the past. Prescriptions will be digitally transferred from the prescriber, GPs or Out of Hours to community pharmacies, streamlining the process for patients. 

In addition, a new digital platform will manage the delivery of clinical services to the public through community pharmacies, improving patient safety, expanding access to care for patients and bringing treatment closer to people’s homes.

Together for Families is a new transformational model of supporting children and families that marks a decisive shift towards earlier intervention, stronger family support and more joined up working to ensure families can access the right help, at the right time and in the right place.

The model, which has whole-system support, was developed in close collaboration between the statutory, community and voluntary sectors and provides a framework to drive change in a coordinated and consistent way. 

On the ePharmacy project, Health Minister Mike Nesbitt said: 

“With over 45 million items prescribed and dispended 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.”

On Together for Families, Minister Nesbitt added: 

“This initiative is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to improve the life chances of children and families across Northern Ireland. It reflects a shared determination to work differently, bringing partners together across the system with a clear focus on delivering better outcomes for children and families and the delivery of support in a way which is seamless, trauma-informed, non-judgmental and, above all, compassionate.

“I want to express my sincere thanks for the support provided by the National Lottery Community Fund, which has committed half of the funding required for implementation. That is a significant vote of confidence in both the ambition of Together for Families and the power of partnership between the statutory, community and voluntary sectors to deliver meaningful change.”

Kate Beggs, The National Lottery Community Fund Northern Ireland Director, added: 

“Across Northern Ireland, many families are facing increasing pressures, from financial hardship and child poverty, to rising mental health needs. 

“Too often support only reaches families once challenges have reached crisis point. At its heart, this investment is about helping children and families access support earlier, through trusted community organisations and effective partnerships across services. The voluntary and community sector plays a vital role in this, bringing deep local knowledge and strong relationships that help families get the support they need.”