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 thank the Member for that. The AHP cohort forms the second-largest block in healthcare after nursing, and it is really important. As I said, a record 505 allied health professional preregistration training places are to be commissioned by my Department in this financial year. The breakdown, in which the Member may…
I commend the Minister for what many people rightly consider to be some of the most significant increases in training places in many years. Is he able to give us an indication of just how significant those increases will be, in particular across the AHP programmes?
Last week, I was very pleased to announce a significant package of investment in Northern Ireland’s Health and Social Care workforce. The measures that I have announced will bring annual investment in the commissioning of workforce training places to £160 million. This year, my Department will commission 1,065 nursing…
I thank the Member for the question. I am not aware that outsourcing is something that we want to do. I think that we had to do it as a short-term measure when we consolidated on the Belfast Trust site. I want to reassure people that every effort is being made to review what happened in the Southern Trust. We have had…
The Minister will know how long and how hard people campaigned for cervical cancer screening. After the smear scandal in the Southern Trust, will he outline what measures are being adopted to ensure accurate, consistent and timely screening? Is outsourcing a part of that?
I thank the Member for that. She will be aware that I have officials working on a women's health action plan, and education will be a core part of that. Looking ahead, I would prefer to have a women's health strategy, but, in the meantime, the important thing to do is to get an action plan that enables us to take…
Minister, I am sure that everybody thought that everybody was on their game and doing their very best when we had the cervical smear scandal in the Southern Trust. What we really need is some reassurance on the accountability mechanisms. I think that you will agree that the most important element of tackling health…
I thank the Member for his question, which is in two parts. Yes, being timely is of the essence. It is all very well having the buildings, the equipment, the staff and the protocols, but, if testing is not actioned in a timely manner, the risk, obviously and self-evidently, is that we miss problems or allow problems…
Does the Minister recognise the risk that the delay in HPV testing capacity poses to the timely detection of cervical cancer, particularly for women in more deprived areas, where screening uptake is already low?
I thank the Member for his commentary. The question was how confident I am: I would like to think that I am very confident, because I think that, when you have had issues on the scale of those experienced by patients and service users in the Southern Trust, everybody involved in the screening, whether in cytology or…
Minister, given the concerns raised about the lack of full services being provided and staff concerns about conditions, I urge you to move at speed to address both of those issues. How confident are you that there will not be a cervical scandal similar to that in the South, with those issues being raised?
I thank the Member for his question and understand that it is rooted in previous serious issues. Yes, I encourage women to take up the offer of cervical screening when invited to do so. Over 99% of cervical cancers are caused by HPV. Primary HPV testing is an automated test that identifies the presence of HPV. It is…
I thank the Member for that follow-up question. There have been some issues around the timeliness of reporting; I accept that that is indeed the case. Last week, though, I was pleased to hear that work is being done to address that. We look at a range of weeks in blocks in terms of how long it takes to report to…
Thank you for your answer, Minister. How does the Department intend to ensure that patients are informed in a timely manner of the results of the testing?
The new regional cervical screening laboratory in the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust has been operational since November 2024. The Belfast Trust was awarded the regional contract following an expression-of-interest process that considered submissions from trusts against a range of key criteria. The Belfast Trust…
Yes, it is. The Member will be aware of the fact that, since I was first elected in around 2011, I have campaigned on the broad theme of mental health. I came to that from being a victims' commissioner, because it was obvious that our excessive rates of poor mental health — let me put it that way — are a direct result…
The Minister will be aware that, generically, there is difficulty in accessing CAMHS for young people and that there is a bit of a regional imbalance. Is the Department undertaking any work to address that?
If the Member is enquiring whether there should be a separate, bespoke training regime and system in place for dealing with autism, my officials say that that is not necessary and that interventions can be done within the mental health services but in a bespoke way that is directed towards a person-centred pathway of…
I will follow on from the Minister's answer and the supplementary question. Over and above the specific training, does the Minister believe that a different and bespoke approach to mental health interventions for autistic children and young people, as well as adults, is required?
My understanding is that it will be available to all those working in Health and Social Care and not just to mental health practitioners. Sorry, what was the second part of the question?
I thank the Minister for his answer. It is a certainly a huge step forward in improving the service for autistic individuals. I welcome the training, but will it be extended through to adult mental health services as well? Will it be mandatory?
I thank the Member for the question. I am happy to advise that my Department has engaged with Middletown Centre for Autism in order to develop autism and neurodiversity awareness training. It will be available on the Health and Social Care (HSC) learning platform in the coming weeks. Not only has that training been…