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I am very happy to confirm that they will be. To be fair to them, departmental officials were very professional in their approach when they started, in March 2024, to plan for this winter. From looking at the plans, however, it is clear to me that some of those organisations were represented directly at the table,…
On the subject of winter preparedness, to which the Minister referred, will health workers and professional bodies, such as the RCN, the BMA and the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM), be consulted when the Minister starts work on his so-called blank page for winter pressures?
I thank the Member for his follow-up question. Before I became Minister — in fact, we are talking about maybe three or four years ago — I was made aware that Monday nights are the nights when EDs are under the most pressure. As a constituency MLA, I asked to spend the night observing a night shift in the ED at the…
I thank the Minister for his response. I do not take alcohol. A constituent approached me about Craigavon Area Hospital, where he had seen at first hand the issues resulting from excess alcohol and the dangers that it creates for staff. Does the Minister accept that it is an issue that must be dealt with?
I thank the Member. I recognise that, like elsewhere in the UK, our Health and Social Care (HSC) system as a whole is under sustained and significant pressure. Too many people wait too long to access urgent and emergency care, which falls short of the service that we all strive to provide. My Department recognises the…
Yes. Maybe I should have made it clear that my officials are liaising not just with the Department for Communities here but with the Department for Work and Pensions in London. As I said, it is a complex area, and we intend to get the best possible fit for people in Northern Ireland. That involves knowing exactly what…
I am delighted to hear that the consultation has been launched. The more quickly we can get it sorted, the better. What engagement has the Minister had with DWP about those who are excluded in GB and whether there will be a direct copy and paste here?
Leaving aside the obvious fact that nobody should be forced to pay for healthcare, will the Minister confirm why exemptions do not automatically apply when people sign on for universal credit or other benefits? Why do people have to apply annually through the HC1 form? I fear that too many people are falling through…
The Member now brings up three things. First, let us make it happen. To my mind, the most important thing is that we look after those vulnerable people and make sure that they get the help, resources and funding support that they need. I am taking it in reverse order. Secondly, yes, there has been ongoing consultation…
I thank the Minister for that important update. Will the Minister commit to assessing whether the length of time that it has taken to get to this juncture can be justified? I do not feel that it can. Will he also outline what engagement his Department has had with the Department for Communities on streamlining the…
I thank the Member. I assure him that work on the proposed changes to the legislation is a key focus for my Department and that I am committed to ensuring that the work is completed without undue delay. The Member may well come back to me and say that there has already been undue delay. He can make that argument,…
I thank the Member for his question, and I agree with the sentiment of it, although I caveat that by saying that there are things that are beyond our control. The rise in building costs and in building materials has been much higher than anybody — any economist, any politician or any Chancellor of the Exchequer —…
The projects are associated with spiralling costs and ever-increasing delivery timelines. What is the Minister doing to ensure that future projects are delivered on budget and on time?
I thank the Member for her supplementary question, and I acknowledge, of course, the time that she spent in previous years in the maternity hospital. I will not endorse the thought of those fees being excessive, because I think that, to reach that conclusion, we need to break them down and analyse them line by line. I…
I thank the Minister. I absolutely agree that the new children's hospital is an imperative for us in Northern Ireland. I spent many years of my life in the old children's hospital, and the conditions there have not improved significantly since that time. In reply to a question for written answer that I submitted to…
I thank the Member for her question. I have asked my officials to identify the key lessons from the new maternity hospital project and ensure that they are applied ahead of signing any contract for the new children's hospital on the Royal Victoria site. My officials are working closely with all parties involved in the…
I thank the Member. A range of initiatives are under way to help to build and sustain that workforce: the social care workforce strategy, which I have already mentioned and which will be key to addressing recruitment and retention in the sector; the launch of the new level 2 safe and effective care practice…
Recent weeks have, once again, shone a spotlight on the importance of our social care workforce. Therefore, I very much welcome the Minister's recent announcement that he will ensure that the sector becomes a living wage employer. Will he provide an update on what else has been achieved to date to support our social…
I thank the Member for the point. I am not aware of that individual constituent's contractual relationship with her employer. It may well be a private-sector matter, in which case the Department is, probably, limited in the extent to which it can intervene. However, if the Member wants to provide me with the details,…
Minister, you talked about the fair work forum. I have a constituent who had to take time off work because she picked up a bug in a nursing home. She was not paid for the shifts that she missed. What is being done to improve the terms and conditions of our care assistants and domestic workers etc, who provide vital…
I agree with the Member that listening is absolutely important. As Minister of Health, I listen to people, not just those in the Department. I listen to anecdotes, but, more importantly, I like to listen to people who are at — to use an old-fashioned phrase — the coalface. I do that all the time. I was in a care home…
Minister, you mentioned a blank-sheet approach to dealing with adult social care challenges. What would you say to the front-line workers in our care homes who have come to your Department with practical, logical and workable solutions but say that they are not being listened to? Do you agree that many of the issues…
I thank the Chair of the Committee, who is speaking in her personal capacity as an MLA. Yes, that is an issue but it is one in a range of issues that we have to look at. We have to think outside the box and have that blank-page start and ask, first of all, "What are the issues?", and there are specific, rural issues…
I really welcome the commitment to the real living wage. It will go some way to tackling the issue. Minister, in relation to that, as you have said yourself, we are aware that social care is key to unlocking some of the significant pressures on our hospitals. I have been speaking to some providers, and there are…