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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. He may recall that, in another role, as the leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, I had the pleasure of visiting the South West Acute Hospital not long after it opened. It is a very impressive, very modern and very efficient-looking facility. When it comes to efficiency, I am very…
I thank the Member for his supplementary question and very much acknowledge the principle of what he said. The impact of the COVID pandemic and of lockdowns are matters for the long, ongoing and necessary UK-wide inquiry. I do not want to say anything that could be considered prejudicial to the work of that inquiry. I…
I thank the Member for his question and acknowledge his long-standing interest in the area. The expression "excess deaths" is horribly clinical, but I suggest that it is a necessary definition. First, I assure Mr Frew that I do not want any partner, relative or friend of somebody who has passed away to wonder whether…
Again, I thank the Member. I acknowledge that the need for improved understanding of autism for all people has been raised consistently throughout stakeholder engagement and public consultations down the years. My Department intends to provide autism training across all the health and social care sector, rather than…
I thank the Member for his question. I am fully aware of the responsibility to appoint an independent autism reviewer, and I acknowledge the significant role that the post will bring for autistic people and their families. I have deferred a decision on the reviewer until I can consider health funding pressures in the…
I hear what the Member is saying. I can only say that I have never been tempted to go anywhere near such a machine. I will take the matter back to the Department and I will reply in proper and appropriate detail to Mr Dickson.
As the Member will know, the cancer strategy is a 10-year plan to reform cancer services here. Since it was published in 2022, we have already seen significant progress against a number of actions. Key examples of that include the development of rapid diagnostic centres and services to provide genomic testing for…
I very much agree with the Member's sentiment. That funding needs to continue. Although we can talk broadly about commonalities in health inequalities, each area of deprivation has its specific issues and needs. People in communities are better placed than anybody else to say what the solutions are that they believe…
I thank the Member for her question. There are two elements to consider, the first of which is the question of tackling areas of deprivation, while the second is the issue that the Member raised about regional inequalities. I am certainly up for tackling both. As I said, I hope to work with departmental officials in…
The health inequalities annual report that was published by my Department on 27 March 2024 highlighted the scale of inequalities that continue to exist. For example, the report showed that, in 2020-22, males in the most deprived areas lived on average 7·2 fewer years than males in the least deprived areas. The gap for…
I thank the Member for her question. Yes, I will commit to taking that away and discussing it with colleagues in the Department. I agree with the Member that it is a gap that not only exists but needs to be closed for the sake of our people.
I thank the Member for his question. The Department is working closely with health and social care trusts to address the long waits that we see in many of our cancer pathways. That includes short-term measures such as buddying arrangements, whereby patients are transferred to other trusts for a diagnosis. Medium- and…
I thank the Member for his supplementary question. We do indeed have significant gaps across key professions in health and social care. Recruitment, training and retention of staff are critical. We also need to ensure that we recruit staff with the correct skills to deliver a modern cancer service. My Department is…
I thank Mr Harvey for his question. I am aware of the workforce challenges across health and social care. I welcome the Royal College of Radiologists' report. I have agreed to meet college representatives to discuss the findings in detail. The college is an important stakeholder in delivering effective cancer and…
I thank the Member for her question. There are the terms and conditions of employment, the rotas and all the wraparound that is involved in being a junior doctor. I do not for one moment think that junior doctors want to be junior doctors just because of the salary band that that offers; it is a vocation. They…
I thank the Chair of the Committee for her comments. The next steps are difficult, because, as I said to Ms Bradshaw, we are in a classic situation where arbitration is the only way to go forward. Were I, as Minister, to go forward with the BMA junior doctors committee on its terms, purely discussing pay, there is no…
I thank the Member. Indeed, I engaged with them before coming into post, when I was the Assembly Private Secretary to Minister Swann. More recently, I have written to all three branches of the BMA and invited them to meet me to discuss the issues that the health service faces and how we can move forward together. I…
I thank Paula Bradshaw for her question. As you will be aware, junior doctors in Northern Ireland are employed under the single lead employer. They work in a number of host HSC organisations that are responsible for developing, issuing and monitoring the working patterns and rotas of junior doctors. Under the current…
I thank the Member, and I look forward to visiting Desertcreat to see what the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service (NIFRS) does there. Its employees regularly encounter incidents that may be defined as "critical", and such incidents can cause psychological distress to those involved. The Fire and Rescue Service…
I will make the commitment to work with my Executive partners. I will also say to the Member that I am more than happy to work on a cross-border basis, because, on Thursday, not only was I at the health sectoral meeting but I attended the infrastructure sectoral meeting with Minister John O'Dowd and his counterpart…
I thank Mr Dunne for the question. In October 2022, a draft Northern Ireland road safety strategy reaching up to 2030 was published. While Departments supported it at the time, unfortunately, it could not be finalised due to the absence of a Northern Ireland Executive. Following the return of Ministers, the strategy…
Yes. Minister Swann announced £70 million in March. I can tell Mr Elliott that £7·3 million was invested in self-directed support. The estimate for that was based on current expenditure levels for self-directed support in Health and Social Care (HSC). I hope that he will agree that that was a significant contribution…
I thank the Member for his supplementary. One of the points is that a direct payment is not intended to replace existing support offered by family members; rather, it is to supplement care. There is a range of people who provide that care, and it is important that all of them get a fair crack, as it were, at providing…
Mr Deputy Speaker, before I answer the question, I want, with your indulgence, to acknowledge that I came across a social media post from Mr Baker last night that marked the second anniversary of the sad passing of his baby nephew Enda, who succumbed to a genetic disease called Edwards' syndrome. I believe that that…