MINUTES OF PROCEEDINGS OF THE HEALTH, SOCIAL SERVICES AND PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE
IN ROOM 135, PARLIAMENT BUILDINGS
AT 2:00 PM ON WEDNESDAY, 17 JANUARY 2001

1. Chairman's Opening Remarks
2. Minutes of the Last Meeting
3. Matters Arising
4. Presentation on 'Myths and Reality'
5. Primary Care
6. AOB
7. Date and Time of Next Meeting

Present: Dr J Hendron (Chairman)
Ms P Armitage
Mr P Berry
Mr T Gallagher (Deputy Chairman)
Ms C Hanna
Mr J Kelly
Mr A McFarland
Ms M McWilliams
Ms S Ramsey
Mrs I Robinson

Apologies: Rev R Coulter

In Attendance: Mr G Martin (Committee Clerk)
Mr D Harkin (Assistant Clerk)
Mrs V Artt (Executive Support)
Mrs McFerran (Administrative Support)

Dr Hendron took the Chair at 2:03 pm.

Private Session

1. Chairman's Opening Remarks

1. On behalf of the Committee, the Chairman welcomed back Mrs Robinson following her recent illness.

2. The Chairman advised members of an invitation to the Committee to attend a presentation on Primary Care Needs Assessment by Springvale Training Ltd on Thursday, 25 January between 12:30 pm and 2:30 pm.

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2. Minutes of the Last Meeting

The minutes of the last meeting were agreed.

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3. Matters Arising

1. Agreed: The Committee will meet with the Acute Hospitals Review Group on Wednesday, 14 February at 10:00 am in Parliament Buildings.

2. The Chairman will meet informally with Prof. McKenna of the UUJ on Tuesday, 23 January at 2:30 pm to discuss the Committee's Inquiry into the proposals for Primary Care. Members are welcome to attend the discussion, which will be held in Room 211, Parliament Buildings.

3. The Clerk has arranged for the General Practitioners' Committee NI BMA and the Primary Care Forum to attend the Committee's meetings on 7 and 14 February respectively to discuss their views on the future for Primary Care.

4. The Clerk is awaiting responses to the Committee's queries relating to school transport services and the definition of "Public Safety".

5. The Clerk has arranged for an expert from UUJ to undertake work on the Department's sets of unaudited accounts for the years 1998/99 and 1999/2000.

6. The Committee noted the Department's response to its query on the estimated additional costs to the NHS of making Nicotine Replacement Therapy available on prescription.

7. The Committee was content with the Department's consultation on the current statutory framework for the treatment of impotence on the NHS by GPs. The Department had provided additional information on the cost implications of allowing unrestricted prescribing of drug treatments for impotence on the NHS.

Agreed: As the Committee would like to be better informed on this subject, the Clerk will invite Dr Ian Banks to attend a future Committee meeting to give a briefing on impotence and men's health issues.

 

Ms Armitage and Ms McWilliams joined the meeting at 2:20 pm and 2:23 pm respectively.

8. The Clerk has contacted his counterpart on the Environment Committee in relation to the DoE's consultation document on telecommunication masts, and has arranged for a researcher to undertake an analysis of the report from a health perspective.

9. The Clerk is awaiting confirmation of the Committee's meeting with the Drugs and Development Youth Parliament on 31 January.

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Public Session

4. Presentation on 'Myths and Reality' ( A Report on Teenage Pregnancy and Parenthood)

Panel Members: Dr Miriam McCarthy, Chairperson of the Steering Group
Mrs Audrey Simpson
Ms Mary Black
Mr John Breen

The Chairman welcomed the panel to the meeting at 2:28 pm, after which Dr McCarthy gave a presentation, with accompanying briefing notes, on the background data and major themes flowing from the report. This was followed by a question-and-answer session, which is summarised in Annex A. The Chairman complimented Dr McCarthy for producing an excellent report, and the panel left the meeting at 3:55 pm.

The meeting was suspended at 3:56 pm and resumed at 4:07 pm.

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5. Primary Care

Panel Members: Mr Clive Gowdy, Permanent Secretary
Mr Derek Baker, Director of Primary Care
Mr Jim Thompson

The Chairman welcomed the panel to the meeting at 4:07 pm. He then briefly outlined the Committee's serious concerns about the Department's proposals for Primary Care. He emphasised the Committee's strong view that GP Fundholding should only cease when the Department could make a planned seamless transition to a suitable agreed alternative. He further raised the Committee's concern at what appeared to be a pre-emptive Departmental circular on the abolition of GP Fundholding.

Mr Gowdy explained that the Department's document 'Building the Way Forward in Primary Care' was still out for consultation, and he acknowledged that any final decision on the end of GP Fundholding would, of course, be subject to the will of the Assembly.

He emphasised that the Department's letter to GP Fundholding Practices and other relevant parties in relation to the abolition of GP Fundholding from 1 April (subject to the enactment of the necessary legislation) was simply prudent contingency planning to prepare for change.

Mr Gowdy said he was convinced that it would be possible to move into a post-fundholding phase reasonably quickly. He maintained that the problems were not insurmountable and that the new management and institutional frameworks could be embedded in a synchronised and structured way.

There followed a question-and-answer session, which is summarised in Annex B.

The Chairman thanked the panel members for their frank contributions to the discussion, and they left the meeting at 5:30 pm.

Private Session

The Committee deliberated on whether it should put down an amendment to Clause 39 of the HPSS Bill (which relates to the cessation of GP Fundholding) at its Consideration Stage on Monday, 22 January.

Agreed: The Clerk will confirm that the Committee can still put down an amendment at the Further Consideration Stage of the Bill, in which case the matter will be placed on the agenda for next week's meeting. In any event, the Chairman will seek an urgent meeting with the Minister to discuss the matter in advance of next week's Committee meeting.

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6. AOB

1. In relation to the Consideration Stage of the HPSS Bill scheduled for Monday, 22 January, the Clerk advised the Committee of the Speaker's ruling that the debate will be restricted to Members' speaking to amendments only. However, in discussing the matter with the Chairman, the Speaker advised that the Committee could generate debate on more general issues of concern arising from the Bill by way of putting down "probing amendments".

Agreed: The Chairman will put down a probing amendment to Clause 21 of the Bill to highlight problems arising from different interpretations of the term "residential care home". He will put down a further amendment to Clause 22 in order to highlight the inequities that result from the respective definitions of the term "child" within the Children Order (NI) 1995 and the Criminal Justice (Children) (NI) Order 1998.

2. The Chairman reminded members of the lunch with the Directors of Social Services of the four HSS Boards at 12:30 pm on Tuesday, 23 January in the Private Members' Dining Room.

3. Agreed: The Clerk will enquire about the procedure for the establishment of Assembly all-party health groups and obtain a full list of these groups.

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7. Date and Time of the Next Meeting

The Committee will meet next at 2:00 pm on Wednesday, 24 January 2001 in Room 135, Parliament Buildings.

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The meeting ended at 5:55 pm.

DR J HENDRON
COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN
January 2001

10 January 2001 / Menu / 24 January 2001