Ultimate responsibility and decision making on Swine Flu policy lies with the Health Minister.  At a UK level, Minister's decisions are informed by recommendations from Cabinet Officer, COBR and Health Officials.  This advice is underpinned by scientific evidence provided by SAGE and JCVI, who are expert medical groups providing guidance on epidemiological and vaccination policies respectively.

To ensure that these strategic decisions are appropriately implemented on an operational level within Northern Ireland, a Regional Preparedness for a Swine Flu Pandemic Programme Board, chaired by the Chief Medical Officer, Dr Michael McBride, and comprising staff from the Department , HSCB, PHA and BSO was established 1 July 2009.  The Programme Board's primary function is to ensure coordination and provide assurance to the Minister on preparedness of Swine Flu planning and the proportionality of that preparedness across the HSC.

The Programme Board held its first meeting on 9 July 2009, and there are arrangements in place to meet every Friday fortnight for members to consider and scrutinise papers for approval including the financial costs associated.  

The Programme comprises a number of  workstreams, each with a programme sponsor who is a member of the Regional Preparedness for a Swine Flu Pandemic Programme Board.  The workstreams are underpinned by a Workstream Leads Forum which has meetings every Tuesday fortnight to address cross-cutting issues and report back to the Programme Board.  Programme support is provided by DHSSPS.

The Programme Board will remain in place until we reach the stage when the Regional Health Command Strategic Cell (RHCC) is established.

Programme Board membership and workstream details are outlined in the following document:

On 17 September the Department at the request of the Programme Board held a workshop on Swine Flu Preparedness concentrating on awareness raising and information sharing.  The programme and presentations from the day are available by clicking on the links below.

Please click on the link below to access the latest Pandemic Influenza Bulletin.