Debate contribution: Inquiry into Access to Palliative Care Services
Debate contribution by Mr Colin McGrath on .
- MLA
- Mr Colin McGrath
- Party at the time
- Social Democratic and Labour Party
- Date
- 2 December 2025
- Type
- Debate contribution
- Business
- Committee Business
- Heading
- Inquiry into Access to Palliative Care Services
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5272227
Read the official Assembly record
Text
We often say that how a society treats people at the end of life says everything about who we actually are. Today's motion asks us to confront that truth with honesty, compassion and unity of purpose. Across the Committee's work this year, through more than 350 written submissions, powerful evidence sessions and visits to hospices across the North, we heard again and again that palliative care in Northern Ireland is sustained by extraordinary people, but constrained by inconsistent structures. At the outset, I pay tribute to the dedicated and effective Health Committee staff, who waded through reams of notes, reports, evidence sessions and members' contributions, which were not always brief, to produce the report that we have before us.
In the course of our inquiry, families told us of communication failures, of support that disappeared at 5.00 pm, of their being unaware of services, and of their experiencing trauma that stayed with them long after their loved one had gone. Those conversations were not easy. I acknowledge the collegial spirit among Committee members throughout the inquiry. I appreciate that not everyone was able to attend every visit, and, naturally, we did not agree on every element, but the messages that we heard were consistent, and we were united in our determination to amplify the voice of patients and families. The findings were clear. There is no clinical lead for palliative care in the North. We are the only region in these islands without one. There is no adult palliative care strategy. Our outdated funding model forces hospices to raise huge sums of money just to keep essential services open. There are stark inequalities; where someone lives often determines the support that they receive. That is not good enough. The people whom we met deserve better. There is a human reality behind all of this. Many people across Northern Ireland were deeply moved by the recent BBC story of Anne Sheppard, a lady whose final days were marked not by comfort but by unnecessary suffering. Her family's courage in speaking out forces us to confront what happens when the system fails. Their experience is not isolated; it echoes too many others that we have heard about in our work. No family should ever have to face their loved one's being alone, unsupported or in fear in their final days. Today, we commit through the report to changing that. Palliative care is not about death; it is about how we honour life to the very last moment. That is at the heart of palliative care. As an MLA, I was profoundly moved to see the work that goes on in Life and Time in Rostrevor, which provides a life of care to people in South Down in their own homes. It does the work that we want the Department to do. We should have heard from it in the inquiry, but, sadly, we did not have time. End-of-life care is about dignity, presence, relief from pain, a hand held, a voice heard and a family supported. The report published today is not the end of the journey; rather, it is a stepping stone that leads us towards the next step in delivering palliative care that works. The report gives us a framework that is built from lived experience, but it will become meaningful only if the Executive pick it up, prioritise it and resource it. I say "the Executive" because I believe wholeheartedly that the Minister has a desire to commence that work, but that will need financial buy-in from his colleagues around the Executive table. I implore the Minister and the Executive to implement the report's recommendations; to fund the shift to 24/7 care and support; to deliver proper advance care planning; to move to true-cost funding for hospices and plan the pathway to 100%; to appoint a clinical lead; and to build a strategy that finally meets the needs of our people. Our job today is simple: it is to welcome the report, honour the lives of those who shaped it, and commit fully and urgently to building a palliative care system that is worthy of the people whom it serves.
691 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 (0.97).
- 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 | 0.02 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.01 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.02 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.02 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.97 | 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 | 0.78 |
| Disability (including neurodivergence and mental health), disabled people and disability or sickness benefits | 0.10 |
| Sexism, misogyny, ageism and other equality groups | 0.08 |
| Gender, sexuality, abortion and related social issues | 0.03 |
| Another identity-related subject | 0.01 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 14:07 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
Disagree with this assessment?
Classifications can be challenged. A person reads every challenge, and any change is recorded publicly above with its reason.