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.
The Minister will, no doubt, recognise my regular communication with his Department on behalf of my constituents who are languishing on waiting lists. Indeed, I welcome his comments on waiting lists and the actions and initiatives that he is taking, but it is clear that much more work needs to be done. Can the…
I just want to mention that I have had experience of that with a family member. What fundamental change — more physical space, staff or beds — is required to address that inefficiency and increase capacity in A&E departments?
I thank the Minister for his statement and answers so far. His statement commenced by referencing the pressures that are on our health system and the likely difficulty over the winter period. That pressure will be felt particularly in accident and emergency departments, yet I see only a single sentence mentioning the…
Minister, I welcome the publication of today's plan, and I am pleased to hear about the "significant progress" that is being made on tackling waiting lists across more and more areas of our health service. Overall, however, the Minister is clear that there is still much more to be done. Therefore, is he satisfied that…
I thank the Minister for his statement. It contains some ambitious targets. He has told us of plans to take money back from trusts that are unable to meet targets. What analysis will there be, or is there, of why trusts are not able to meet those targets? It may be due to staff shortages, for example, in border areas,…
Thank you, Minister, for the statement. I believe that you are genuinely interested in improving services for our constituents. I also believe that you are interested in holding the trusts to account, which is really welcome; it is high time. We have all been concerned about the performance of the cervical screening…
I thank the Minister for his statement. Minister, I want to touch on the point that you made about dentistry. A number of dentists are in touch with us regularly, and I stress that the fact that they do private work is about sustainability, because they find that the funding model does not sustain their dental…
Thank you, Minister for your statement, which included references to cancer. Do you recognise that cancer patients cannot wait and that cancer certainly does not wait? I express some disappointment that the statement is full of aspirations but short on detail. In respect of cancer services, Minister, can you tell us…
It was a very emotive start, and I certainly join the Member in expressing sympathy for the loss of Jody Gormley. When we think about the dignity of Sir Chris Hoy, who now faces a terminal illness, it is remarkable how some of our sportspeople give examples to all of us to follow. As to the Member's substantive point,…
I begin by paying respects to my fellow Gael Jody Gormley, his wife, Deirdre, daughters, Aine and Niamh, and son, James. In recent weeks, we were all blown away by the heroic bravery and strength that he demonstrated on 'The GAA Social' podcast with Thomas Niblock and Oisín McConville. I measc na naomh go raibh sé.…
Thank you, Minister, for your statement. I want to pick up on your point about the anticipated reform of stroke services, the outcome of which will be subject to consultation. You will be aware that there was a pre-consultation in 2017 and a public consultation in 2019, and that an action plan with key actions was…
I very much welcome the publication of the Minister's plan. How important will certainty and clarity on future funding levels be for the delivery of today's commitments, and does the Minister believe that there is now a greater recognition around the Executive table that, compared with multi-year funding, the worst…
Some of the waiting times have improved. I emphasise again that, overall, the picture is not acceptable and needs a lot more work. However, when we talk about specific numbers and we say that the total number of people who are waiting for an appointment is x, that is not necessarily accurate, in that I could be on…
I thank the Minister for his statement. There is a lot to digest in it and, like Mrs Erskine, I have a lot of questions. The Minister will be aware that the number of people in Northern Ireland recorded as waiting for an appointment with a hospital consultant recently reached its highest ever level. As of the end of…
I thank the Member for bringing up the subject, because it is raised with me daily, not least by Members on behalf of their constituents. She will be aware that my predecessor, Robin Swann, put several million pounds into dental treatment, but we still have a problem with dentists deciding that they will focus on…
I thank the Minister for his statement. I have so many questions that it is hard to pick which one to ask. First, however, I welcome the announcement about lung screening. Along with colleagues, I sponsored an event here at which Cathy Brokenshire really adequately made the case for the need for lung screening in…
I thank the Member for the questions that she poses. Is having a single authority a product of that? To an extent, yes, it is. As the Member alluded to, it is very important that, among women, we restore confidence in the service and in its ability to deliver. She will be aware that there has been a move from cytology…
I thank the Minister for his statement. Minister, there is much in the statement that will be beneficial to all genders in our community, but I am a bit concerned that there is no specific mention of women's healthcare. We know that we lag way behind in actioning women's healthcare. I would like a bit more detail on…
My party and I welcome and support this timely plan. Our Health and Social Care (HSC) workforce will be critical in the delivery of many of the ambitions set out in today's plan. I wish the Minister well in his discussions later with the trade unions. Does the Minister hope that, moving forward, it might be possible…
I thank the Member for her question and comments, but I see no contradiction. You need to do both. As I said in my first comments here as Health Minister, if you took a blank map of Northern Ireland and asked yourself, "Do you want to design a health and social care system?", the answer would, I think, be yes, but…
I thank the Minister for the statement. We respect the fact that there is a difficult budgetary environment, but we also recognise that, since 2003, our spending in health per head has risen faster than it has in any other nation in the UK, so, clearly, something is going wrong, because we are not having better…
I thank the Minister for his statement today. Minister, in your statement, you say that you have challenged the health trusts to carry out an additional 11,000 treatments a year by 2027. Will you provide more detail to the House? Is that for cancer treatment, or what area of healthcare are you referring to?
We have a three-year plan that is packed with statements such as, "opportunities to reform", "I am committed to", "There is more I can do", "I will publish", "I will review", "I want to see" and all of it subject to funding that is yet to be allocated. Does the Minister agree that we need a concrete, tangible, fully…
Mr Speaker, thank you for the opportunity to make a statement today on the publication of the health and social care three-year plan. When Professor Bengoa visited Northern Ireland in October, I was clear that I intended to publish a plan setting out my ambitions until the end of this mandate. The publication today of…