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Mr Mike Nesbitt: Assembly records
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 thank the Member for his question. This is, of course, a very important area that we are discussing. I have not yet had a briefing on the number of responses, so I am not even aware of that, never mind whether they are positive or negative. I am aware of the strong campaign against some of the proposals. I…
I am sorry: I did not quite catch that. I acknowledge that the SAI procedure, as currently constituted, is not fit for purpose. I am determined that we bring one forward that is efficient, fast and patient-centred.
OK. The redesign of the current serious adverse incident (SAI) procedure is important and one of my Department's priorities. We are undertaking extensive engagement with a broad range of stakeholders. That includes the Patient and Client Council engagement platform, which comprises five individuals with lived…
I thank the Member for his question. Absolutely: I have talked often about a "shift left" for healthcare delivery. By that I mean getting healthcare out of hospitals and into the community and primary care practices. The primary care elective service is hugely important in providing five key pathways in dermatology,…
The Member's use of the term "sleight of hand" will be deeply resented by officials in the Department of Health. I encourage you to eyeball them and make that accusation. There was a very frank, honest and robust discussion this morning on the issue. My officials are absolutely certain in their position, and I have…
It is my understanding that there was a negotiation, not just about the money that would go into the general medical services contract but about the work that that would cover. There was a rejigging of the services that were to be commissioned. It is not necessarily accepted by all, but my officials are very clear…
I thank the Member for his supplementary question. It is a very important issue. Having spoken to Dr O'Hagan and some of her colleagues this morning, it is clear that there is at least a misunderstanding or misinterpretation of the current arrangements, which is causing some disquiet among general practice doctors.…
I thank the Member. I recognise that arrangements for clinical negligence indemnity are a matter of concern for GPs locally. In the financial year 2023-24, £1 million of funding was reallocated from other areas of the general practice budget on a one-off, non-recurrent basis to support GPs with indemnity costs. As…
I thank the Member. On foot of the pseudomonas issue that arose at the maternity hospital at the Royal Victoria Hospital, we are reviewing how every trust monitors the water supply in all their facilities.
As the Speaker suggests, your question has very little relevance to the question posed by Ms Ní Chuilín. I gently say this to you: there were some workforce issues with midwives recently in the Southern Health and Social Care Trust, and the trust dealt with those as best as it possibly could handle them. I am not…
I thank the Member for her question. I stand to be corrected, but I do not believe that the Department played a specific role in the handover. The building was commissioned by the Belfast Trust, and there was a commercial relationship with a contractor. My difficulty is one in a broader sense: the contractor ran some…
I acknowledge what the Member has said. The only potential confidentiality issue would be with who was responsible for PsA being in the water systems in the maternity hospital. There are ongoing discussions about that. The Member may be aware that there previously was an issue with the water systems in the critical…
I thank the Member. During construction of the new maternity hospital at the Royal Victoria, as part of routine monitoring, the contractor reported levels of pseudomonas aeruginosa (PsA) in the domestic water systems. Action was taken to remediate that. The contractor continued to test the water and provided a set of…
I thank the Member for his comments. Yes, I agree with everything that he said. It is a difficult challenge that does not easily lend itself to short-term fixes, but, as I said, hopefully this week and potentially tomorrow, we will start the process by looking at options. I am pleased to see Ema Cubitt in place as the…
I thank the Member for her question. When Professor Bengoa was here last week, in the morning we visited a residential social care site in north Belfast where the point was made to us that there were five beds in the unit but only two were being funded by the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust. It would be lovely to…
There are two issues that we need to address. One is the physical infrastructure — the houses and residential places that we need — because we do not have enough. Professor Ray Jones has some thoughts about how we should reconfigure. There is also the appropriately trained staff. Even if we had the money and the…
I thank the Member. I fully recognise that the current situation is unsustainable. I am determined to see urgent improvements in the area. I am aware that, unfortunately, a significant number of families are on waiting lists to access support services and an increasing number of children with disability are on the…
I thank the Member. One of the strategic priorities of the urgent and emergency care review that was published two years ago was the introduction of local and, ultimately, regional Phone First services that would be akin to the 111 telephone services that operate in other parts of the United Kingdom. Local Phone First…
I thank the Member. To address ambulance handover times, which are critical, my Department has taken steps to improve waiting times at emergency departments. Reducing those handover delays has been a key priority because of the impact that it has on the Ambulance Service's capacity to respond to calls in the…
I thank the Member for his question. I visited Altnagelvin a few weeks ago. We looked at some of the new facilities, and I was updated on the fact that there is a plan for a new emergency department. I will have to write to the Member if he is looking for exact details of what stage that outline business case is at…
I thank the Member for that supplementary question. We are trying to remove the second assessment. A lot of people end up in a hospital because they start off with an assessment from their GP and are then sent to the emergency department of an acute hospital, where they are assessed for a second time. The future is to…
I thank the Member for her question. My Department has taken a number of steps to improve patient flow at the Altnagelvin Area Hospital. An enhanced minor injury unit was opened in March this year. It is a Phone First-led service that operates from 8.00 am to 9.00 pm, seven days a week. It is my expectation that the…
Thank you, Madam Principal Deputy Speaker. In recognition of the motion and the amendment, I will state something clearly and up front: if I had a magic wand, the Children's Hospice would have no financial issue today, tomorrow or in the future, no concerns about resources and no shortage of staff and volunteers.…
I thank the Chair of the Health Committee and the other Members who spoke for their contributions. It was important that the Chair talked about the availability of the nasal spray, an application that is to be welcomed. Diane Dodds made a very important point encouraging us all to acknowledge the lives lost to the use…
I beg to move Thank you very much, Mr Deputy Speaker. I seek the Assembly's approval for the making of a draft statutory instrument that will amend the Human Medicines Regulations (HMRs) 2012 to lawfully expand access to naloxone, which is a life-saving medication that reverses the effects of an overdose of opioid…