All of Mr Mike Nesbitt’s imported questions, contributions and motions in this mandate, newest first, including those assessed as not flagged, uncertain or not yet analysed.
I am sure that Members will have noticed the absence of one of our colleagues in recent days. I refer to the Ulster Unionist Party Member for East Belfast, Andy Allen MBE MLA. He has not been idle. He has been in Whistler, Canada, participating in the Invictus Games. He entered four events and achieved a medal in all…
Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker, and thanks, of course, to everybody who has taken part in the debate. What I found pleasing was not just that we were almost unanimous, with the exception of People Before Profit, in supporting the legislative consent motion but that people were not prepared to simply let it go through on…
I beg to move Among the many and varied challenges that I accept as Minister of Health, addressing health inequalities is perhaps the most difficult, as nobody has shifted the dial on healthy life expectancy since devolution in 1998-99. I repeat: that challenge is an Executive-wide one. The international standard that…
I am aware that, before the restoration of the Executive, all the parties appeared to prioritise Health. I heard Jayne McCormack of the BBC say this morning that, in her first conversation with the First Minister and deputy First Minister, they said that if they could achieve anything and do one thing well in this…
Thank you, Madam Principal Deputy Speaker. I will not hang about, then. I normally welcome debates in the House but not so much today. The tone and content were a bit disappointing. I have never, ever argued that it is all about the money. Many of the issues are the result of over a decade of Tory austerity, repeated…
I thank all the Members who have spoken in the debate. I pay particular thanks to members of the all-party group, not just for the work that they have done on the latest inquiry into public health approaches to tackling gambling but for all the work that they have done since the APG was formed. Previous inquiry…
I am very supportive of the UK Tobacco and Vapes Bill. I thank the Member for his question. As he will know, smoking is the number-one preventable cause of death, disability and ill health in the UK. In Northern Ireland, it kills 2,000 people every year. The Assembly agreed to Northern Ireland's inclusion in the…
I agree that it is a public health issue. As a constituency MLA, I have visited houses that have damp and mould and are home to very young children. However, in legislating, I do not think that it falls primarily to the Department of Health. Certainly, on a personal and party level, we are supportive of the sort of…
I thank the Member for the question. I believe that the trusts are giving active consideration to that and, obviously, they are working with the PSNI. Another issue that I think will lend itself to the use of body-worn video is the introduction, which is forthcoming, as the Member will know, of the Right Care, Right…
The Member will agree with me that, in recent weeks and months, we have heard some very disturbing stories about activities within the curtilage of emergency departments. Threats to staff are high on that list. Drug abuse and drug use is another issue. Nurses and doctors in EDs are well used to people coming in with…
I have written to Wes Streeting, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care in London. I have also engaged with our Finance Minister, Caoimhe Archibald, to make her aware of the issues, and she is making representations to Treasury. The Member may agree with me that the relatively new Government in London have…
I thank the Member for his question. It is certainly an issue that exercises me, as, I am sure, it does community pharmacists. I am not sure that I have any confidence that the Government in London are going to step up to the mark and provide help. I think that, for direct employees of Health and Social Care, we will…
I thank the Member. I will take the second part of the question first. Yes. My view is that we must shift left into primary and community care. We must talk about prevention and early intervention rather than waiting for people to become acutely ill and end up in our major hospitals. Of all the reforms that have…
I thank the Member. I very much enjoyed my visit to the practice in East Antrim with the Member. Sometimes, you walk into a health or social care facility and are immediately hit with the positive energy and a good feeling, and that was certainly the case on that day. Multidisciplinary teams are currently in seven of…
With respect, the Member's comment is entirely inconsistent. On the one hand he says, "This is a long-term problem that needs a long-term solution", and, on the other he thumps the desk and says, "Do something now". Does the Member really think that, if I could pull a lever that would help, even in a minor way, today…
I thank the Member for his point. It is entirely regrettable that that is one of the symptoms of the blockage in the flow through our acute hospitals, and I am determined to address it. The answer is not simply in more staff or more ambulances. The answer is not just in bigger EDs with more staff, and it is not about…
For a number of years, the Department has been working collaboratively with the trusts and other stakeholders in an effort to stabilise the social work workforce. It has been a key focus for my predecessor and for me. In early 2023, over 200 social workers were employed by recruitment agencies. They were delivering…
I am very happy to confirm that they will be. To be fair to them, departmental officials were very professional in their approach when they started, in March 2024, to plan for this winter. From looking at the plans, however, it is clear to me that some of those organisations were represented directly at the table,…
I thank the Member for his follow-up question. Before I became Minister — in fact, we are talking about maybe three or four years ago — I was made aware that Monday nights are the nights when EDs are under the most pressure. As a constituency MLA, I asked to spend the night observing a night shift in the ED at the…
I thank the Member. I recognise that, like elsewhere in the UK, our Health and Social Care (HSC) system as a whole is under sustained and significant pressure. Too many people wait too long to access urgent and emergency care, which falls short of the service that we all strive to provide. My Department recognises the…
Yes. Maybe I should have made it clear that my officials are liaising not just with the Department for Communities here but with the Department for Work and Pensions in London. As I said, it is a complex area, and we intend to get the best possible fit for people in Northern Ireland. That involves knowing exactly what…
The Member now brings up three things. First, let us make it happen. To my mind, the most important thing is that we look after those vulnerable people and make sure that they get the help, resources and funding support that they need. I am taking it in reverse order. Secondly, yes, there has been ongoing consultation…