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MLA Culture Wars

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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.

107,469 records match, page 2245 of 4299.

  3. Debate contribution: Hospital Reconfiguration Framework

    I thank the Member for her question. That was put out to public consultation. We have had a vigorous and very welcome set of public responses, which is still being analysed by my Department. We are therefore not in a position yet to give a more detailed vision of the network with regard to which hospitals will provide…

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  4. Debate contribution: Western Health and Social Care Trust: Ambulance Cover

    I thank the Member. I give that assurance. I am very aware of the sensitivities involved, particularly for people living in the catchment area of the South West Acute Hospital. I am more than happy to provide that reassurance. On the point about ambulance capacity, it is my understanding that the Western Trust has…

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  5. Debate contribution: Western Health and Social Care Trust: Ambulance Cover

    I thank the Minister for his clear commitment, and I hope that it will provide some reassurance for the people who have been greatly distressed by the recent reports on the matter. Will the Minister give a commitment, in line with the recent Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority (RQIA) review of the pathways,…

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  6. Debate contribution: Western Health and Social Care Trust: Ambulance Cover

    I am aware of the claims, and I find them disturbing. First of all, no decision has been made about a permanent move. That decision rests with the Western Trust, not with me. The trust will make a decision, and I do not know what decision it will make. It will come to me, and it will be up to me whether to endorse it.…

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  7. Debate contribution: Downe Hospital

    I thank the Member, but I do not agree with him on that. There is a reason for that. I visited the urgent care centre and spoke to the staff, including consultants. The questions were asked, "What more we could do?", "What more could you do?" and "What would you change if you had a magic wand?". There was a…

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  8. Debate contribution: Downe Hospital

    I thank the Minister for his reply. Minister, you referenced it: do you agree that the current urgent care service could be upgraded and enhanced too? That would enable some treatments to be made a little closer to home and would ease the pressure of the overcrowding that takes place at the Ulster Hospital in…

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  9. Debate contribution: Downe Hospital

    I thank the Member for his question. I have been to the Downe Hospital, I think, two or three times, and what I really like about it — if I may use the expression — is the vibe. There is really good feel on walking into that hospital, and that is created by the wonderful staff who work there. I have visited many of…

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  10. Debate contribution: Social Workers: North Down

    I do not have the exact number to hand. We have made great strides in recruitment and getting away from using agency staff, so we are much more efficient. However, I am afraid that I will have to write to the Member with the exact number that she seeks.

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  11. Debate contribution: Social Workers: North Down

    Thank you. I thank the Minister for his answer. I understand that the social care workforce review in 2022 indicated that 60 more university training places for social workers will be required every year, but, last year, there were 20 more. How many places will there be in the upcoming year? Will there be enough to…

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  12. Debate contribution: Social Workers: North Down

    The South Eastern Trust reports that, as of 12 May 2025, 929 social workers were employed across adult and children’s social work services, which equates to 861 whole-time equivalents. On 31 March 2023, there were 784 whole-time equivalent social workers in the South Eastern Trust. On 31 March 2024, there were 807. I…

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  13. Debate contribution: Health: Financial Position

    The Member alludes to a slight variation; £400 million to £500 million is not, in my estimation, a slight variation. It is not a slight variation in the view of the trusts, the Department of Health or, I imagine, the Department of Finance. Those are not slight variations; they are major variations. The trusts made an…

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  14. Debate contribution: Health: Financial Position

    Minister, almost a year ago, you stood and said an almost identical thing, with perhaps a little difference in the figures, about having to make cuts that would have a detrimental impact. None of the cuts that were outlined by you and your staff at the Health Committee happened. Why did those cuts not happen? Will it…

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  15. Debate contribution: Health: Financial Position

    I thank the Member for his question. I will take it to officials. I am aware of coeliac disease but only at a superficial or headline level. I commit to checking what service the Department and the health trusts provide in that regard, and whether there is a consistent service across the five trusts, and get back to…

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  16. Debate contribution: Health: Financial Position

    Minister, you will, no doubt, agree that treating illnesses early is better for patient outcomes and the cost implications for the health service. In light of that, will you commit to assessing the cost to the health service of undiagnosed coeliac disease and the resulting health complications, with a view to speeding…

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  17. Debate contribution: Health: Financial Position

    I welcome the Member's statement. On the pay pressures, when working out our budget, we had to make an assumption that there would be a 2·8% pay rise. As I said, the two sets of recommendations — for allied health professionals on the one hand and doctors and dentists on the other — have been received by the…

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  18. Debate contribution: Health: Financial Position

    I thank the Minister for that rather sobering update. Perhaps, it will be a bit of a reality check for some in the House. Given the speculation that the pay review recommendations for this year are likely to be published any moment now, I welcome the Minister's commitment to moving swiftly, within reason, to ensure…

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  19. Debate contribution: Health: Financial Position

    My Department is facing an extremely challenging financial position in this financial year. Members will recall that, compared with the level of need that is being driven by increased demand, health inflation, pay and trust deficits, among many other factors, my Department was facing a £400 million shortfall this…

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  20. Debate contribution: HSC Training Places 2025-26

    I assure the Member that I am acutely aware of the need for regional balance and that not a week goes by that I do not look at waiting lists and issues and say, "Why is best practice in one trust not being replicated and put into common practice in all five trusts?". I put in the proviso that the Belfast Trust offers…

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  21. Debate contribution: HSC Training Places 2025-26

    You have generally answered the point that I was going to make. I welcome the extra posts, but will you ensure that they are fairly allocated across our hospital sites, particularly the medical posts? I have found that a lot of the training posts are Belfast-centric, and when young ones go to train in Belfast, they…

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  22. Debate contribution: HSC Training Places 2025-26

    I thank the Member for his question. We have been looking at the legislative programme that we can introduce in the remaining two years of the mandate. I can assure the Member that it is my desire that the safe staffing legislation come forward before the end of the mandate. I cannot commit to an exact month yet, but…

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  24. Debate contribution: HSC Training Places 2025-26

    I thank the Member for his question. I am not going to be definitive in my answer. He was very specific about the review that he has in mind, so I will take that away. Broadly, however, we look at the gaps on a trust-by-trust basis and even on a hospital-by-hospital basis. I hope that the Member is aware that,…

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