Executive Ministers showcased a £42 million digital prescription programme at a Belfast pharmacy as part of a wider £102.6 million investment to modernise Northern Ireland’s public services. The funding, announced by Finance Minister John O’Dowd on 26 May 2026, represents the final tranche of a £235 million UK Government package agreed to restore the Stormont Executive in 2024.
Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly, Health Minister Mike Nesbitt and Finance Minister John O’Dowd joined Secretary of State Hilary Benn MP and NIO Minister Matthew Patrick during a visit to Carryduff Pharmacy on 29 May 2026 to highlight how the Transformation Fund is driving practical change. The visit focused on the ePharmacy Primary Care Digital Reform Programme, which will replace paper prescriptions with a fully digital system capable of operating 24/7, including evenings, weekends and bank holidays.
Digital prescriptions to replace 45 million paper items
The ePharmacy programme will receive the largest share of the new funding at £42 million. The system will enable electronic transfer of prescriptions directly from GPs and out-of-hours services to community pharmacies, streamlining the process for the 45 million prescription items issued annually across primary care in Northern Ireland.
Health Minister Mike Nesbitt said: “The ePharmacy programme will deliver a safe, seamless and digitally enabled community pharmacy and electronic prescription service, that will genuinely transform patient experience. It will replace paper-based systems, reduce the associated workload and help to ensure the Health and Social Care system is as safe and efficient as can be.
“The programme, which includes a new digital platform to manage the delivery of clinical services in community pharmacies, will rapidly accelerate reform within primary care in Northern Ireland. It will support the move towards a neighbourhood model of health and wellbeing for primary, community and social care, which will deliver greater levels of care for citizens, including children and families, in their communities.
“The scale of opportunity is significant, with over 200,000 patients visiting a GP Practice in Northern Ireland each week and over 45 million prescription items prescribed and supplied annually within primary care.”
First Minister Michelle O’Neill welcomed the investment, stating: “Transforming our public services is essential if we are to improve how they work for people across our communities. The £102.6 million Transformation Fund investment, announced by Finance Minister John O’Dowd on Tuesday, will drive greater efficiency across government while helping deliver better services, strengthening healthcare, supporting children and families, supporting our farmers and laying the foundations for wider system reform.
“The ePharmacy Programme is right at the heart of this investment, It will modernise prescriptions, making them quicker, safer and more efficient through a new digital system across GP practices and pharmacies. This is exactly the kind of change we want to see delivering real benefits for people.”
Six projects sharing £102.6 million
The latest funding completes the allocation of the £235 million Transformation Fund provided by the UK Government. The six projects receiving support are:
- £42 million – ePharmacy Primary Care Digital Reform Programme (Department of Health): Digitising prescription transfer and creating a new digital platform for community pharmacy clinical services
- £29.2 million – Together for Families (Department of Health): Establishing a region-wide, tiered model of early help for families, complemented by an additional £30 million from the National Lottery Community Fund
- £16 million – Pathways to Work and Wellbeing (Department for Communities): Integrating employability and health services to support people with ill-health and disabilities into employment, delivered with the Department of Health and Department for the Economy
- £6 million – Digital Workplace (Department of Finance): Modernising records and information management across the Civil Service
- £5.3 million – NISRA Data Linkage Office (Department of Finance): Delivering pathfinder projects to examine safe data linking across departments for evidence-based policy making
- £4 million – Bovine Tuberculosis Research Project (Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs): A cross-border pilot with partners across Ireland, supported by approximately £5.6 million from the Shared Island Fund
Finance Minister John O’Dowd said: “I was pleased to visit Carryduff Pharmacy to hear how the ePharmacy project, funded through the Transformation Fund, will modernise services and help pharmacists deliver more efficient patient care.
“Our public services must adapt to a changing society, and transformation is how we drive progress. Earlier this week, I announced over £102 million to fund six projects across a number of departments to drive reform and deliver greater efficiency and long-term savings, helping to strengthen healthcare and support families and the agri-food sector.”
Secretary of State Hilary Benn MP added: “It was great to visit Carryduff Pharmacy today to hear about how this investment will make a real difference for people in Northern Ireland. Electronic prescribing is a long-overdue modernisation that will make it easier for people to access the medicines and clinical services they need in their local community.
“This is exactly the kind of practical reform that the UK Government is proud to support, and this new investment is from the £235 million Transformation Fund provided by the UK Government to the Executive. I look forward to seeing the benefits it delivers for patients and healthcare professionals right across Northern Ireland.”
Medical leaders welcome investment but question timeline
Medical and pharmacy leaders have welcomed the funding while highlighting that Northern Ireland is playing catch-up with other jurisdictions. Dr Ursula Mason, Chair of the Royal College of General Practitioners Northern Ireland, said: “I very much welcome the rollout of electronic prescribing as an important and long-overdue step forward for patients and GPs across Northern Ireland. E-prescribing is a step change for safety, efficiency and access. It will reduce errors, streamline processes, and give patients faster, more convenient access to their medicines.
“Crucially, it will also cut some administrative burden on GPs, freeing up valuable time to focus on patient care, where we want our efforts to be focused. E-prescribing will also support climate and sustainability goals by reducing paper use and cutting carbon emissions across General Practice and the wider health system, helping to reduce environmental impact while continuing to deliver high-quality patient care.”
Gerard Greene, Chief Executive of Community Pharmacy Northern Ireland, said: “The announcement of this significant investment in the e-Pharmacy programme is welcomed and will enable a significant step forward to be taken in the digitalisation of community pharmacy. Current paper-based processes will be replaced by an I.T. infrastructure that will benefit patients and modernise pharmacy processes. This is an important first step that will enable the Department to fast-track e-prescriptions and the record keeping associated with pharmacy services that are provided to patients in Northern Ireland.”
However, questions remain about delivery timelines. Health officials have indicated it could take two to three years before patients can avail of the electronic prescription service. Dr Frances O’Hagan, Chair of the Northern Ireland General Practitioners Committee, told BBC Radio Ulster that she would like to see “that timeline brought down dramatically,” noting that electronic prescribing has been in place for several years in England, Scotland and Wales, and was brought in quickly during Covid in the Republic of Ireland.
Full Transformation Fund allocation and sustainability questions
The £102.6 million announcement follows a first tranche of £129 million allocated in March 2025 for projects including primary care multidisciplinary teams, special educational needs reform and criminal justice modernisation. Together, these allocations exhaust the £235 million ring-fenced transformation funding provided as part of the UK Government’s £3.3 billion Executive restoration package.
While the investment has been welcomed across political lines, the scale of the challenge remains significant. The Northern Ireland Fiscal Council has previously warned that the region faces severe budget pressures, with spending in 2022-23 running ahead of available funding. The Transformation Fund represents targeted investment for specific reform projects, but does not address the wider budget shortfall affecting day-to-day public services.
Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly acknowledged the need for sustained focus during the pharmacy visit, stating: “Today’s visit is about seeing first-hand the positive impact the Transformation Fund can deliver. We are already seeing meaningful change through the first tranche of projects, and it is clear that new initiatives, including this ePharmacy programme, will help make a real difference to people’s lives.
“This is about targeted investment where it matters most, improving services, supporting longer-term sustainability, and keeping a clear focus on delivering the transformation people want to see. Pharmacies are a vital part of our health service, and by harnessing digital innovation we can ensure they are better equipped to meet the needs of patients now and in the future and deliver real change that benefits everyone.”
Questions for consideration:
- Given that electronic prescribing has operated in Great Britain and the Republic of Ireland for years, what specific barriers have delayed Northern Ireland’s implementation, and how will the 2-3 year timeline be accelerated to avoid further backlog?
- With the £235 million Transformation Fund now fully allocated, what mechanisms will ensure these projects deliver measurable efficiency savings rather than becoming ongoing costs?
- How will the “Together for Families” project coordinate with existing strained social work services to ensure early intervention genuinely prevents crisis, rather than simply adding parallel structures?
- Will the Pathways to Work and Wellbeing project align with the UK Government’s “Pathways to Work” green paper reforms, or develop distinct Northern Ireland approaches to employment support for those with health conditions?
- Given the completion of this funding tranche, what plans exist for sustaining transformation momentum beyond 2029 when the current funding period ends?