HSC Impact Case Study: Northern Ireland Region-wide "Strengthening Our Core" (SOC) Policy Framework

Description of impact

Policy impact (already established): Our research informed and is cited in Northern Ireland’s Department of Health (DoH) Strengthening Our Core Health and Social Care (HSC) wellbeing framework, which was published in 2024.

Who is affected

All staff working in Health and Social Care in Northern Ireland (around 75,000 staff across eleven organisations) benefitting from more line management support in addressing their health and wellbeing.
Human Resource (HR), Organisational Development (OD) and Occupational Health (OH) practitioners benefitting from opportunities to enhance research-informed practice.
Department of Health, Northern Ireland, in achieving key elements of their Health and Social Care Workforce Strategy 2026.

Narrative

Health and Social Care (HSCNI) organisations in Northern Ireland report high sickness absence, e.g. 7.65% in the Northern Health and Social Care Trust in 2024/25, with the main reason being (work-related) stress. The resulting strain on staff availability leads to insufficient staffing levels, e.g. in nursing, affecting patients’ safety. Staff availability also affects patient wait times: The median wait time increased from 43 to 64 weeks between 2020 and 2025. Our research suggests that line management intervention can help mitigate the reasons causing work-related stress. However, line management practice is inconsistent. The impact of our research will enable line managers to better support the wellbeing of their staff.

Impact status	Completed
Impact date	2020 → 2028
Category of impact	Public Policy Impact