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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.
On the first point, there seems to be a great deal of cynicism about the statistics. There are about 70,000 people working in Health and Social Care, and a significant number of them have been working on the waiting list initiative, which has delivered around three times the Programme for Government target. Being so…
I thank the Member for his question. I can give him some statistics now. We had 262,773 episodes of delivery to the end of February. That took place over 11 months. There was a 68% reduction from peak endoscopy waits. There was a 98% reduction in patients — in real terms, that is 5,287 people — for named procedures,…
The Member is referring to information that, as he said, has just come into the public domain. The Department and the trusts will need some time to look at that. I assure the Member that the identification of abuse is a core part of training across the Health and Social Care system.
CAR T-cell therapy has proven to be very successful. It will be introduced once we have the new haematology ward at Belfast City Hospital. Progress is being made on that, but it will be a number of years before the ward is available. The CAR T-cell procedure can operate only in particular clinical conditions. I…
I thank the Member for her question. I am not across the detail of that, but I would be more than happy to write to the Member. If she wants to focus her supplementary question on the information that she is seeking, I would be grateful.
The Member seems to think that the Department has some role in drawing up the vision: the Department has no role in drawing up the vision. I have asked the Western Health and Social Care Trust to draw up the vision. If the Member believes that some sort of brake is being applied by the Western Trust, my question to…
The Member will be aware of the process. A consultation was under way, but I was not happy with it, so I contacted the Western Trust. I could not instruct the trust to pause the consultation, but I am grateful that it agreed to do so and that it eventually decided to scrap it. I then encouraged the trust to come up…
Without an additional £800 million, I will struggle in that area, as I will in many others, but I am focused on it. On 2 March, Independent Health and Care Providers (IHCP) issued correspondence to my permanent secretary about its significant concerns about the structure, cost and workforce profile of the Southern…
Improving access to child and adolescent mental health services remains a key focus for the Department. The information provided by trusts demonstrates that average waiting times have fluctuated over the past five years. The average wait was 49 days in the 2021-22 financial year. It then dropped to 46, increased to 60…
I acknowledge how difficult it is for those parents. What we traditionally call "burn out" is very common, and I get it. I have met many parents and carers and not just those who we now call the "Spotlight mums", whom I have met on a number of occasions. However, it is a rather emotive way to phrase the question.…
As ever, the answer has to be predicated and ring-fenced by the budget, but I thank the Member for welcoming the investment in her area. Recruitment is very challenging in that area, and the Member may well be aware of that. We will press on with trying to get the right workforce in the right place as soon as…
I will ignore the accusation of being cynical and address the fundamental. The five trusts have confirmed final funding for the financial year 2025-26 across a range of proposals. The amount of funding, which is rounded up, is as follows: Belfast Trust, £2·2 million; Northern Trust, £1·4 million; South Eastern Trust,…
The additional regional funding provided for the children with disabilities service is being spent on a range of initiatives to improve family and community support for children with a disability, with the aim of increasing short-break provision and expanding specialist care programmes. The trusts have increased…
My Department has not carried out an assessment of the postal service currently utilised by the health and social care trusts, so no assessment has been made on the use of Royal Mail's economy postal services.
It is not the fault of the patient that their appointment is missed because Royal Mail did not get the communication to them on time. As I just said to Linda Dillon, we have that integrated elective access protocol, which gives you up to four weeks to get yourself reinstated to where you were on the waiting list. I do…
There is a protocol. Trusts are required to follow the integrated elective access protocol (IEAP). That has been developed to define the roles and responsibilities of all those involved in the elective care pathway. IEAP outlines good practice to assist staff with the effective management of waiting lists. The…
My Department is committed to working with the health and social care trusts to continually improve communication methods with all patients, ensuring that they have the best possible experience and access to care. The trusts maintain oversight of postal delivery performance through established contractual and supplier…
I do recognise the significant challenges that EDs face, and I am acutely aware that the current level of use of non-designated clinical spaces, or corridor care, is too high and has to be reduced. I accept that it is reflective of the current pressures on the wider health system. The impact on patients and staff in…
We will do whatever we can. I will not be able to remember this off the top of my head, but a charity looked at hospital waits in emergency departments in England, and those figures were also absolutely shocking. So it is not as if we are doing something or not doing something that is not happening elsewhere. This is…
As the Member is aware, there has been an ongoing problem in the workforce for that particular specialism. What the Member is asking for is not something that I can make up on the hoof, because I have not given consideration to how that money is re-profiled. We have an £800 million shortfall, so I have no doubt that…
I hope that the Member acknowledges that the problem has not arisen in just the most recent financial year; the numbers are roughly similar for the year before that, and the year before that. I am acutely aware of the impact of those ongoing relentless pressures in what is already a very challenging environment on the…