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 be glad to hear that I took the train into Belfast on Friday night, although I had to drive from Fermanagh in order to get the train. Will the Minister outline how many times the strategic oversight group on traffic issues has met? Is he minded to widen the group out beyond the PSNI, Translink and…
No one disagrees with the assertion that Belfast is too car-centric, but the challenge that we face in the here and now is that, in the weeks before Christmas, the city has completely ground to a halt because of congestion. With respect, it simply is not good enough to tell people to look at alternative routes. What…
I accept that there are delays and that journeys through the city centre by car are taking longer than normal while work is ongoing. That is why I previously made a statement to the Assembly to warn about and raise awareness of what was to come. The bigger, more general issue is that there are too many cars on the…
I am not aware of its being advised not to take the handover. I think that there was a contractual board that advised the contractor and the Belfast Trust and that the advice was, figuratively speaking, to accept the keys. It was only afterwards, when the trust went into the solid state of water testing, which applies…
I will more than happily take that away, and I ask the Member to write to me on it. As a matter of broad principle, we follow the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines. If NICE has approved something, we will certainly check its applicability in Northern Ireland. If NICE has not approved…
It was not my intention to get you, to be fair. If you can come back to us with an update, it will be appreciated. Givinostat has not yet been approved for licensing in the UK, but there is an early access programme, and access to it would be gratefully appreciated by the parents here. Children with DMD have an…
On the first point, I am not aware that that is the case. I have a sense that demand for the service is growing, but I will take that away, check it out and get back to the Member. On the second part of the question, I have no vires over the productivity of the private sector.
Minister, I listened attentively to your response to Mr Clarke on output compared with pre-COVID levels. Is the example that I gave an outworking of that? Further to that, is the private medical sector operating at 100% pre-COVID levels?
I sympathise with the Member and his constituents. I am afraid that it is a question of resource. That is a technical medical procedure and is carried out at the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children. There is a validation: in other words, a consultant goes through the list to make sure that people are in the right…
As I said to the Member, I do not condone anything that is considered illegal, but we have free speech in this country. We have no contractual arrangement with the organisation that he referenced on its communications, marketing, advertising or website.
Health Minister, is it the case that you provide public funding to that body and permit it to do and say whatever it wants, even though that may go against health advice?
The Department of Health has no vires over what organisations place on their websites. In my experience, the Rainbow Project delivers valuable services to the LGBTQ+ community. I do not condone illegal activities in any way. The Member may wish to write to the Rainbow Project to highlight the issues that he has raised.
I thank the Member for his follow-up question. That is an area of detail that I want to take away. I will make a general comment: moving from the National Health Service or Health and Social Care (HSC) to the private sector and coming back again poses problems across the board, as far as I can see. The Member…
I thank the Minister for that update. In the absence of a commissioned service, what is your assessment of the situation where those with a private diagnosis of ADHD have their shared care arrangement reviewed, are given a deadline of 180 days before access to their life-changing medication is withdrawn and are then…
I thank the Member for his question. As he is aware, there are no commissioned ADHD services in Northern Ireland, but services are being made available by the geographic trusts. Provision has grown across those trusts in response to population demand. That means that a level of provision is available, but that has…
I thank the Member for his follow-up question. It is always dangerous to make up policy on the hoof, but I am on record at an event in the Long Gallery as saying that it is public health issue. I am happy to concur with the Member.
I thank the Minister for his response. The Minister will know that gambling-related harm is not officially recognised as a public health issue. Does the Minister agree that it should be recognised officially as a public health issue in the North?
I have no difficulty in saying that I agree. I know that Mr McGuigan has a particular interest in that area. There has been a tripartite approach from the Northern Ireland Executive, involving the Minister for Communities, the Minister of Education and me, to try to get more resource from the UK Government to tackle…
As the Member is aware, we have been recruiting, I think, 48 new paramedics to join the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service (NIAS). NIAS has reviewed the data, so the Member will know that, in his area, it has come to the conclusion that it can adjust their rotas. The number of crews on duty between, say, 2.00 am and…
I acknowledge what the Minister has said. Does he believe that some of the 149 people were part of the 97,507 individuals who, while waiting for an ambulance to arrive, had to have the category of seriousness of their case upgraded because they had been waiting so long? What are we going to do to get our Ambulance…
I agree with the Member. A lot of work is being done to try to be more efficient. The Member is aware of that, because he rightly highlights the time that ambulance crews spend outside and in emergency departments waiting to discharge their patients. The same goes for the Police Service of Northern Ireland. The Member…
I thank the Member for his question. As he is aware, there are many, many charitable organisations and organisations in the community and voluntary sector involved in health delivery, whether for physical or mental health. As I said, I have engaged through the umbrella body, NICVA. I could not tell you how many times…
The Minister said that he is engaging with the community and voluntary sector. How is that engagement being carried forward in order to maximise use of the sector's expertise in delivering such an important service?
I thank the Member for his question. He will know that I have campaigned on the issue of mental health and well-being since coming to the House in 2011. In October monitoring, there was no provision for nor any invitation to make specific bids. While I rejoice in the fact that we have a mental health champion in…