Member's statement: Heart Failure
Member's statement by Mr Peter Martin on .
- MLA
- Mr Peter Martin
- Party at the time
- Democratic Unionist Party
- Date
- 26 November 2024
- Type
- Member's statement
- Business
- Members' Statements
- Heading
- Heart Failure
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4677261
Read the official Assembly record
Text
Last week, I attended an event on heart failure and heart disease organised by the British Heart Foundation (BHF) and Heart Failure Warriors and was made aware of some startling statistics. In the United Kingdom alone, there are 200,000 new diagnoses of heart failure every year, and Northern Ireland accounts for about 22,000 in that figure. People living with heart failure will know that it is a debilitating chronic condition that can severely restrict the lives of those affected. Survival rates for those with heart failure are, in some cases, worse than those for common cancers; in fact, half of people with the condition can die within five years of diagnosis. It is also deeply concerning that there are a presumed 20,000 people with undetected and undiagnosed heart failure, and those people are missing out on crucial early intervention. It is an area that is certainly very personal to me, because my grandfather passed away with heart-related illness in his 60s. However, evidence suggests that early intervention can have a positive effect, and that is precisely why it ought to be one of our primary objectives to develop preventative services for heart disease in this country. Patients should get access to specialist treatment and care and should not have to endure a postcode lottery. We must have appropriately commissioned and staffed multi-professional heart failure services across Northern Ireland. That will help ensure speedy diagnosis; access to specialist input from cardiologists, nurses and pharmacists; and referral routes to cardiac rehabilitation and clinical psychology. There are amazing charities working in this area. I have mentioned two, the BHF and Heart Failure Warriors, and I would also like to highlight the work of Northern Ireland Chest, Heart and Stroke, Bravehearts NI and the Children's Heartbeat Trust. The work, however, should not be left up to those charities.
The reality is that, in Northern Ireland, 340 people will die this month from a heart or circulatory disease. Around 90 of them will be younger than 75, and around 13 babies will be diagnosed with a heart defect. I certainly welcome the Education Minister's positive news yesterday that he will deliver a defibrillator for every school in Northern Ireland. That is a big step forward in this area. However, on the wider issue, I ask the Minister of Health to reflect on Northern Ireland's preparedness to address heart failure and circulatory diseases going forward and to provide a road map for improvements in this area.
410 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Assessment
Jev’s structured answers met the documented threshold for “not flagged”.
- Overall probability that the activity is being used to promote, exploit or escalate an identity-based controversy: 0.02 (flagging needs at least 0.70; at or below 0.30 is not flagged).
- None of the five culture-war criteria was met (each was below 0.60).
- Assessed as legitimate policy scrutiny (0.96).
- No identity-based framing was identified (1.00).
- The overall probability was at or below the not-flagging threshold.
This is an AI-generated assessment of the text, made against published criteria. It is not a finding of fact about the MLA or their intentions. The Assembly record itself is the fact.
Jev’s structured answers
| Question | Probability | Met? |
|---|---|---|
| Identity framing | 0.02 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.01 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.01 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.01 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.02 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.96 | Yes |
| Overall judgement | 0.02 | At or below not-flagging threshold |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing (chosen) | 1.00 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.00 |
| Criticises or condemns it | 0.00 |
| Adopts it | 0.00 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-related subject | 0.70 |
| Disability (including neurodivergence and mental health), disabled people and disability or sickness benefits | 0.26 |
| Sexism, misogyny, ageism and other equality groups | 0.04 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.00 |
| Parades, bonfires and commemorations | 0.00 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 11:35 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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