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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 qualifying, uncertain or not yet analysed.
I am aware that the numbers are way beyond what the capacity and the build were intended to meet. We are trying to create alternative pathways, such as urgent care, and to make sure that only people who really need the emergency department present there. I am aware that Altnagelvin is the oldest of the big emergency…
With your permission, Mr Speaker, I will answer questions 1 and 4 together. The Department undertook an information-gathering exercise in mid 2025 to inform the Executive's consideration of a multi-year Budget for financial year 2026-27 and the subsequent three financial years. In recognition of the importance of…
OK. Thank you, Deputy Speaker, and thank you to everybody who contributed to the debate. Thanks also to the Members who recognised that family support is not down to any single Department and is a multi-departmental challenge. For the Health Department, it is not an optional offering but a statutory requirement set…
I am referring to the rising demand for healthcare generally. Claire Sugden just made the point that other sections of Health and Social Care (HSC) tend to push people towards emergency departments, but I do not contest what the Royal College of Emergency Medicine is saying. That constrained community capacity is…
Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. I thank Mr McGrath for proposing the motion and all who have contributed to the debate. We all agree that the situation in our emergency departments is symptomatic of wider pressures, rising demand, more complex patient needs and constrained social care or community capacity. If I had a…
As I said, when I saw the list of attendees at Oxford Island on Thursday, it was pointed out to me that they were bringing a lawyer. I was asked whether I would like to effectively block that and refuse access to that lawyer. I said no, because I want to be open and transparent. I was presented with six reports that…
As previously stated, Sir Frank Atherton has said that it would not be appropriate to hold individuals responsible. We hold the Southern Trust responsible. We hold the PHA responsible. We will, going forward, bring controls and quality assurance to the HPV service being offered by the Belfast Trust.
As the Member will know, because he will have studied the report, Sir Frank has deemed it inappropriate to hold individuals accountable, but the Southern Trust and the Public Health Agency (PHA) have been held accountable. We have now moved to a new regime that is being run by the Belfast Trust, and it will be held…
A lot has happened in the past three years. For example, all eight recommendations from the Royal College of Pathologists report have been implemented. As I said, we have made HPV screening the primary test. We now have a single regional laboratory, provided by the Belfast Trust. All recommendations from NHS England's…
The Member used the present tense. As I have said in previous answers, we have now moved away from cytology, as the front line of testing, to HPV screening. I simply encourage women to go and get that screening when appropriate.
The Ladies with Letters primarily led the charge to have a public inquiry into the results and operation of that screening in the Southern Trust. If there are issues in the Western Trust, I am more than happy to engage on them with the Member or the people with whom the Member wants me to engage.
I certainly encourage every woman to go and have their screening when appropriate. However, let us remember that it was screening and not diagnosis. We have now switched cervical cancer screening to human papillomavirus (HPV) screening. That has a success rate of around 90%, as opposed to around 70% to 80% for…
First of all, I am extremely sorry for the loss of Lynsey Courtney. Secondly, I had no oversight of who came to the meeting. That was largely, I believe, driven by the Ladies with Letters. It was brought to my attention before the meeting that the group was bringing a legal representative, and I was asked by officials…
I am sure that everybody in the House will agree that our thoughts should be with the women and families involved. All had a reasonable expectation of better. To me, a public inquiry is a means to an end to discover what happened, why it happened, who was engaged in what happened and what can be done to prevent it…
Once again, I emphasise that my accounting officer told me that it was unaffordable and that I could not do it. I note that the Member, who is Chair of the Committee, is reneging on his duty to assist and advise me by telling me that it is my problem. I will move on, because I am mindful of the ongoing concerns raised…
Well, I made the promise in good faith. Between making the promise and its implementation, it was put to me by the accounting officer that it was not affordable without cuts. Once again, I will give way if the Member wants to identify a cut that I was unable to identify.
Mr Deputy Speaker, thank you, and thank you to all who contributed to this important debate. When I took up post nearly two years ago, it was put to me that Ministers tend to go out and about at some point on day one. It was suggested that I visit the Ulster Hospital, just around the corner from Parliament Buildings.…
Thank you, Mr Speaker, and thank you to all the Members who have contributed in the debate. I absolutely agree: we need to ensure that all those seeking autism services have access to the right type of service at the right time. I am fully committed to the full implementation of the Autism Act (Northern Ireland) 2011,…
On a point of order, Madam Principal Deputy Speaker. I believe that Mr Gaston made a point of order earlier in which he questioned whether I had misled the House with regard to dental amalgam. Hansard records that, on Tuesday 28 April, Mr Gaston said: "We have changes relating to dental amalgam driven by EU alignment…
I hope that the GPs are getting a sense of the potential offered by shift left to give them the rewards, resources and funding that they have been calling for over a number of years. I am proud to report on one initiative, and it is a shameless replication of my decision to ask Professor Mark Taylor to lead the…
I absolutely will. I believe that it was a one-handed practice, and the GP decided to retire. I am pleased that the Department was able to work with partners at pace to provide a replacement service. The paperwork is being processed as we speak, at which point the strategic planning and performance group will write…
Absolutely. It has a key role to play. We look to GPs, community pharmacists and everybody delivering primary care. We look to local councils and everybody who has a stake in community development. On the collaborative issue, the community, voluntary and charity sector will be prime and central to that group of people.
It was an absolute privilege to visit Knitted Knockers, and it was energising to see the enthusiasm in the room. I agree with the Member. In fact, before my role as a politician, I was a commissioner at the Commission for Victims and Survivors. Early on in that tenure, it became clear to me that the only people who…