Debate contribution: PSNI: Pressure due to Health System Failings

Debate contribution by Mr Alan Chambers on 1 December 2025.

MLA: Mr Alan Chambers
Party at the time: Ulster Unionist Party
Date: 1 December 2025
Type: Debate contribution
Business: Private Members' Business
Heading: PSNI: Pressure due to Health System Failings
Assembly identifier: Official Report component 5269421

Text

No, I want to make progress. Let me say something important. Our police crews, paramedics, nurses, social workers and mental health professionals are the ones who are stepping up to make real changes. They make impossible judgement calls every single day. They do not need the Assembly to cast broad criticisms over their heads. They need us to back them fully and without political caveats. However, the motion is filled with caveats. It implies that Northern Ireland's health and social care system is failing in some collective, sweeping way. That casual disrespect might help some Members to land a political punch, but it does absolutely nothing to improve outcomes for the people who are in crisis. I acknowledge absolutely that officers are supporting too many people who are in a crisis situation. However, that is not because the health service is not doing its job; it is because it is struggling away. The issue is far bigger than just one Department. Exactly the same thing could be said about the sheer number of people who end up in our prisons with mental health distress. Instead of recognising that wider truth, however, the motion reduces everything to a simplistic political formula, which is that Health gets half the Budget and, therefore, Health must be blamed. That is not analysis; it is political opportunism from the Alliance Party disguised as scrutiny. It is disappointing to hear how, when speaking about Health getting half the total Budget, some people can make it sound as though they are doing the Health Department and, by extension, the Northern Ireland public some sort of favour by their generosity. Everyone here knows that the size of the Health budget is driven by need, not luxury. We have an ageing population, rising complexities in children's mental health and escalating pressures across learning disability and social care, as well as greater expectations in clinical standards. Those demands grow every year. We then come to the call to prioritise the mental health strategy. Of course, we all want that, but the real question is this: what do Members want the Minister to cut to achieve that? The motion is absolutely silent on the trade-offs. It demands a destination while refusing to engage with the journey. The practical and genuine alternative, of course, is for MLAs to join the Minister in the upcoming multi-year Budget discussions and to call for an allocation that is based on genuine objective need. I fully support the idea behind and the intention of Right Care, Right Person, and I hope that it will be implemented as soon as it is safe to do so. However, we cannot simply instruct police officers to step back unless there is someone else who is fully equipped to step forward. If we move too fast and create a gap, there is a risk that someone will fall through it. Responsible government requires care, sequencing and realism, not bulldozing your way towards an artificial deadline because it suits a particular political narrative that some are trying to paint. Let me end on this point: the motion simplifies an incredibly complex issue. If we are serious, let us work together honestly and responsibly. Let us stop using our health service as a platform for political posturing. People who are in crisis deserve better, and the system deserves far better. Once again, I will place on record my party's full support for and appreciation of the work of the police alongside all the staff who are working across the health and social care sector. We owe them all a huge debt.

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

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