Every imported question, contribution and motion, with its classification. Unflagged, uncertain and not-yet-analysed records are all included so the analysis can be checked independently.
I cannot say to anybody that things will be perfect, but I believe that the four sessions that we had — we called them the "big conversation" — which will lead to the plan for winter preparedness for 2025-26, will help. The urgent care offer at Altnagelvin has helped, and the respiratory offer has helped — we are…
Thank you, Minister, for the update. I welcome the seven improvement projects. However, as of last Wednesday, 133 people were waiting for treatment in Altnagelvin Hospital's A&E department, and 49 were awaiting admission. What can you say to reassure the people who are seeking emergency care and to our staff who are…
Earlier this year, under the leadership of the Chief Medical Officer and the Chief Nursing Officer, we brought together senior leaders from across the health and social care system to learn from last winter and plan for winter 2025-26. I was clear that I wanted a blank sheet and a whole-system approach to look at what…
Following a formal application from the Western Trust, in August 2024, the Department approved a 10% recruitment and retention premium as an incentive in consultant psychiatry posts. Despite ongoing recruitment campaigns, no appointments, I regret to say, have been made to date. In response, the trust submitted a…
You outlined the steps that the Department is taking, which are commendable. Can you provide an update on the specific steps that the Western Trust is taking to address the challenges of consultant psychiatry pressures?
Obviously, if you need psychiatric help and it is not there for you, that can have a potentially devastating impact on your health. The number of psychiatrists in each trust will be determined by the population in the trust area and assessment of need, but the Member may find it very interesting to hear the number of…
Mental health must be prioritised. Will you outline the impact that the shortage of psychiatrists in the Western Trust has on patients? How does that compare with other trusts across Northern Ireland?
Absolutely. I will not quote figures to the Member, but we started with nursing and have reduced our reliance on agency nurses. Actually, we have cut it out. The focus now is on locums, who are very expensive, as the Member will be aware. We have asked one of the chief executives of the five geographic health and…
Minister, I met the North's Royal College of Psychologists (RCPsych) here last week, and we had a very useful discussion about some of the problems, such as retention, recruitment and the lack of a permanent increase in the number of psychiatry training places here since 2007, all of which lead to unsafe staffing…
Given the focus that I have had, since being elected in 2011, on mental health and well-being and, since I took up post as Minister, on health inequalities, I will try to be a bit more specific about a range of actions that, at low or no additional cost, will potentially help alleviate pressures in the psychiatric…
I thank the Minister for his answer. Earlier, he mentioned health inequalities. Although poor mental health does not discriminate, it is much more prevalent in areas of high deprivation. Does the Minister recognise the dire need for the Western Trust, where there are the fewest psychiatrists, to receive funding to…
I am acutely aware of the workforce challenges in consultant psychiatry in the Western Trust and, indeed, across the region. A number of actions are being progressed. In response to action 32 of the mental health strategy, a mental health workforce review report was published in July 2023 that set out 18…
On the first point, absolutely we want to get to the bottom of it and understand what happened, why it happened and who was responsible. However, I am not going to jump the gun. I assure the Member that, when we find out who is responsible, we will take the appropriate action. As to the second part of the Member's…
Few factors impact on women's healthcare more than having a maternity and children's hospital that is unsafe for women and babies and that patients and staff are not allowed into. Will the Minister reassure the House that the Belfast Trust and his Department will continue to explore the issue of financial liability…
I am not aware of whether we have looked at the model in Portugal, but I assure Mr Carroll that we will certainly take that away. It may be of interest, as a bit of a tangent, that I was at a four-nations ministerial meeting on substance use last week, and the question of whether Portugal was leading the way in…
Minister, it would be remiss of me not to mention that this month is Gynaecological Cancer Awareness Month, but thank you for your answer. Over the last few months, my office has engaged with quite a lot of women who have been failed by a broken medical system. They know what medical misogyny is. They have a problem…
In a recent response to a question for written answer from the Member on the same topic, I welcomed the report by the UK Parliament's Women and Equalities Committee on women's reproductive health conditions. It highlighted the fact that women often find that their pain is normalised or dismissed when they seek medical…
I thank the Member for his question. It is the first time that I have had the opportunity to welcome him onto the Floor of the Chamber. My number one for men's health is suicide. It is a major risk factor for men. Suicide is a major cause of death, particularly for men under the age of 50. Cardiovascular disease is…
I am aware of that research, and my Department has been looking at it. However, I will have to write to the Member with the detail because I do not have that off the top of my head.
Will the Minister provide an update on the prostate cancer screening evidence review undertaken by the UK National Screening Committee and outline any preparation that his officials have undertaken ahead of the recommendations from that review?
I thank the Member for his supplementary question, because it takes me to my Live Better initiative. When I took up post, one of the most shocking reports that I saw was on health inequalities. This year's health inequalities report is out. It confirms that the difference in healthy life expectancy between people…
I thank the Minister for his answer. The question comes on the back of some positive collaborative work being done in my constituency by a group of men's social and health groups in our community that come together through the East Belfast Community Development Agency (EBCDA). In light of the concerns that the…
Evidence suggests that men are disproportionately affected by certain conditions, such as some types of heart disease, and smoking; indeed, more men than women die by suicide. The inequalities in men's health are stark. On average, those in more deprived areas are much more likely to die early than those in the least…
The answer to your question is, as I outlined, the £5 million of additional moneys through the elective care framework implementation plan. I acknowledge that there are explanations — not excuses — for what happened. For example, it was over the summer, and the workforce was challenged because people need their summer…