IN this year, the 60th anniversary of the NHS, the health and social care service in Northern Ireland has witnessed incredible change and remarkable advances in medicine which have transformed the health of our population.

Nye Bevan's vision of a cradle to grave health service free at the point of delivery, remains the core principle for the delivery of our health and social care services. Our health and social care service is there for everyone, at any time who is ill and in need of care and treatment. There is no charge, no need to worry about finding the money to take a sick child or elderly relative to see a doctor. Free health care for all our population is a legacy which we must all protect.

Over the last year I have been very privileged to get an insider view of how our health and social care system works. It is a complex system employing over 70,000 people to provide a vast range of health and social care services to our population of 1.7 million people.

In 2006/2007 518,722 people were treated as inpatients in hospitals across Northern Ireland. In the same year there were 7.34 million consultations with GPs. Every month in 2006 over two and a half million prescriptions were dispensed. This is only a flavour of activity but it brings home how much our service is used and relied upon. Compared with 1948 when the NHS was founded, people are living longer. In those days heart disease and cancer and tuberculosis were the biggest causes of death. While TB is virtually a disease of the past in this part of the world, heart disease and cancer still contribute to a significant number of deaths here.

However, 60 years on, one thing which hasn't changed is when people are sick they want to be able to get the treatment they need as quickly as possible. As Minister for Health, I want to ensure that patients come first and are at the heart of our services and that those services run as efficiently and effectively as possible and that people who most need our services can access those services as easily and as quickly as they need to.

Significant improvements have taken place to make the health and social care experience a much more positive one for patients and clients in Northern Ireland. We are changing the way services are being delivered. Our focus is on prevention, avoiding admissions to hospital by providing ongoing care and support in the community. While the health and social care budget is large, around £4.3bn, it is also limited. I fought hard to get extra resources for services, treatment and drugs and the continuous new demands and challenges that face the health and social sector every day. This extra money — while still not enough to do all we would hope to do — will go some way to make a difference. More lives will be saved and real improvements will be made to services. I must pay tribute to all the staff who work across the health and social care system. They have worked so hard this year to reduce waiting times and improve access to key services. Thankfully the days of long waiting times and trolley waits are behind us now; patients are receiving assessment and treatment in weeks not years and trolley waits, I hope, are now virtually unheard of.

Nye Bevan demonstrated a wonderful insight when he set up the NHS, 60 years ago. I believe that the service must always be changing, growing and improving. I will continue to work towards ensuring that health and social care services in Northern Ireland are a model of excellence, that people who come in contact with our services and staff receive the world class treatment they rightly deserve and that we continue to make real progress in improving health and well-being.