Debate contribution: Ageing Population: Strategic Plan

Debate contribution by Mr Philip McGuigan on 25 February 2025.

MLA

Mr Philip McGuigan

Party at the time

Sinn Féin

Date

25 February 2025

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

Ageing Population: Strategic Plan

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4815117

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I welcome the motion. It clearly covers much more than health, as the proposer outlined, but that is what I, as my party's health spokesperson, will focus on. The good news is that, because of science, modern medicine and better knowledge of fitness and nutrition, we are living longer, and our life expectancy is predicted to continue to increase. According to NISRA, the life expectancy of females is expected to increase from 82·3 years in 2022 to 85·4 years by 2047, and, for males here in the North, it is expected to increase from 78·4 years in 2022 to 81·9 years in 2047. For someone my age, that means that I have roughly 11,000 more days left, if I am lucky enough to reach the average male life expectancy. That sounds like a lot, but, as I get older, I use the phrase "time flies" much more often. Those 11,000 days could be my potential lifespan. That is what people used to be concerned with — how long they live for — and it is, obviously, still very important. However, there is, rightly, a growing shift towards focusing on people's healthspan. As individuals and as a society, we should work towards and focus not just on the years that we live but on the quality of our life and the years in which we can live in good health and independently, free from chronic diseases, disability or significant physical or mental decline. The Executive therefore need to focus on the reality that, by 2027, the number of people living in the North who will be aged over 65 will exceed the number of children in our population. As an MLA for North Antrim, I represent, as does the proposer of the motion, part of the north coast, which has the North's highest percentage of the older population, so I am clearly in favour of the motion. We need to look at the strategic approach being taken and the policy being developed right across government in order to meet the demands. Our health service currently faces significant challenges, including extensive waiting times, an escalating mental health crisis and severe workforce shortages. Those pressures are not solely because of a lack of funding. They are also as a result of the ongoing need to implement meaningful reform. We know that prolonged hospitalisation can negatively affect older people's health and life expectancy, yet we, as constituency MLAs, are also acutely aware of the problems that lots of families currently face in accessing quick and appropriate domiciliary care packages. We need to enhance home-based care so that we can reduce unnecessary hospital admissions and free up hospital beds. Older individuals generally prefer to receive care in their own home, which can lead to better health outcomes and also respects their wishes. Providing that care requires staff, and we know that the healthcare sector faces significant workforce shortages, particularly, but not exclusively, as a result of Brexit. We therefore need to find ways around those workforce shortages, and we need to ensure that our healthcare workers are paid appropriately for the work that they do. Moreover, we can, and should, deliver more local and community initiatives. The IMPACTAgewell project, which is delivered by the Mid and East Antrim Agewell Partnership in my constituency, is an excellent example of a community-based approach to improving the health and well-being of older people. It states that, since its inception, it has saved the health service approximately £6·1 million through avoiding unscheduled care costs. There are many other examples across North Antrim, and across the North, of groups and communities coming together to help and support our ageing population. They should receive our support. For older individuals with dementia, Sinn Féin advocates community and home-based care rather than hospital admission. We emphasise the need for adequate training for health and social care staff who deal with patients with dementia, as well as increased investment in home care supports and housing adaptations. We also acknowledge initiatives that are currently under way and that deserve our praise. The frailty pathway and the acute frailty audit programme aim to improve the journey and outcomes for older people who become acute inpatients. The ageing well public health planning team that the Public Health Agency (PHA) has established aims to enhance the health and well-being of older individuals and to reduce health disparities. As I said, we need to focus much more on preventative measures to keep people well for longer. I attended a very informative event in the Long Gallery yesterday that had been organised by the allied health professional sector. There were quite a number of demonstrations given at that event that, if implemented, could improve the quality of outcomes for elderly citizens. I therefore encourage the Minister of Health to take a look at yesterday's event to see what he can learn from it. Our Executive will face many challenges in the time ahead. As my party's health spokesperson, I am aware that there are many challenges in the health sector alone. It is crucial that we adopt —

— policies and strategies to ensure that our public services are fit for purpose in order to meet the needs of our older population. That should be a priority.

877 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 12:01 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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