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MINUTES OF PROCEEDINGS OF
THE HEALTH, SOCIAL SERVICES AND PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE
IN ROOM 135, PARLIAMENT BUILDINGS
AT 2:00 PM ON WEDNESDAY, 28 FEBRUARY 2001
1. Chairman's Opening Remarks
2. Minutes of the Last Meeting
3. Matters Arising
4. Subordinate Legislation
5. Consideration of Committee's Response to Consultation Document
'Building the Way Forward in Primary Care'
6. Inpatient Psychiatric Services for Children and Young People
7. AOB
8. Date and Time of Next Meeting
Present: Dr J Hendron (Chairman)
Mr P Berry
Rev R Coulter
Mr T Gallagher (Deputy Chairman)
Mr A McFarland
Ms M McWilliams
Ms S Ramsey
Mrs I Robinson
Apologies: Ms P Armitage
Ms C Hanna
In Attendance: Mr G Martin (Committee Clerk)
Mr D Harkin (Assistant Clerk)
Mrs V Artt (Executive Support)
Mrs K McFerran (Administrative Support)
Dr Hendron took the Chair at 2:08 pm.
Private Session
1. Chairman's Opening Remarks
The Chairman advised members that he had received a letter on behalf of a recently
formed parents support action group, Heartbreak, expressing concern that parents
are not to be included as part of the Inquiry team commissioned by the Minister
to investigate organ retention at NI's hospitals, and requesting a meeting with
the Committee.
Agreed: The Committee will invite representatives from the group to
give a lunchtime briefing session to the Committee.
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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
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Agreed: Further to the Department's written response to the Committee
regarding the loss of the speech therapist at Rostulla Special school, the Clerk
will write to ask what is meant by the term "temporary gap" referred
to in the letter, and how it is intended to address the matter in the short term.
The Clerk will update the parents with copies of the Department's initial response
and his follow-up letter.
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Agreed: The Committee agreed to the following provisional timetable
for visits to local Primary Care Commissioning Group Pilots:
Armagh Primary Care Commissioning Group
Wednesday, 7 March 2001 from 09:30 am to 11:00 am
Mid-Ulster Commissioning Group (Cookstown)
Wednesday, 14 March 2001 from 10:30 am to 12 noon
Lisburn Commissioning Group
Thursday, 15 March 2001 from 10:30 am to 12:00 noon
To facilitate the arrangements for the above, the Chairman requested that members
advise the Clerk as to which Groups they intend to visit. The Clerk will issue
further details at a later date.
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Agreed: The Committee considered and agreed a draft programme for a
visit to London in relation to its consideration of the future delivery of Primary
Care services in Northern Ireland.
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4. Subordinate Legislation
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Agreed: The Committee will defer consideration of the proposed Statutory
Rule, Gelatine (Intra-Community Trade) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2001, pending
a Departmental explanation of the usage of gelatine in products for human consumption.
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Question put and agreed to:
That the Health, Social Services and Public Safety Committee has considered
the following Statutory Rules: -
45/2001 Coffee Extracts and Chicory Extracts Regulations (NI) 2001;
46/2001 Miscellaneous Food Additives (Amendment) Regulations (NI) 2001; and
48/2001 Specified Risk Material (Amendment) Regulations (NI) 2001
and, subject to the Examiner of Statutory Rules being satisfied as to their
technical correctness, has no objections to the Rules.
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The Committee noted the proposal to introduce the following UK-wide Statutory
Instrument, which will take effect from 1 April 2001: The Medicines for Human
Use and Medical Devices (Fees and Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2001.
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Public Session
5. Consideration of Committee's Response to Consultation Document
'Building the Way Forward in Primary Care'
The Committee deliberated.
Agreed: The Clerk will prepare a draft response for consideration. Members
can approach the Clerk in the meantime to input themes to same.
The Clerk will obtain details on the nurse-led Personal Medical Services practice
in Salford, which has been cited as an excellent example in the delivery of Primary
Care Services.
Mr McFarland and Rev R Coulter left the meeting at 3:10 pm and 3:20 pm respectively.
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6. Inpatient Psychiatric Services for Children and Young People
The Committee deliberated on research it had commissioned on the consultation
document 'Commissioning Inpatient Psychiatric Services for Children and Young
People in Northern Ireland'.
Agreed: The Clerk will firm up a draft response for consideration at
next week's meeting, which will emphasise the following points: -
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The preamble to the response should refer to the long-standing deep concern
about the crisis in Child and Adolescent Mental Health services in the community.
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The concern about the absence of timescales for the implementation of the document's
recommendations, including the outstanding commitment to a further nine adolescent
inpatient places.
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The concern that the action plan due to flow from the report 'Minding Our Health'
is still outstanding.
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The concern about the fact that there are no specialist in-patient adolescent
mental health nurses in NI.
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The concern that the document does not include up-to-date figures on young
persons' admissions to adult psychiatric wards (latest figures are from 1995).
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Those with Severe Learning Difficulties must not be excluded from the target
population.
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Confirmation that the document has been Human Rights and Equality proofed.
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The response should include eating disorders as an adolescent mental health
issue.
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Thought should be given to the viability of the ROI's purchasing services from
a future unit suitably sited in the Border area.
The Clerk will investigate whether the Out-of-Hours Adolescent Mental Health
Team is still operating in the North and West Belfast Community Health Trust.
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Private Session
7. AOB
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The Clerk provided members with a synopsis of the responses to the Family Law
Bill in preparation for its consideration at next week's meeting. He advised that
the Bill had provoked a wide range of conflicting views and was not straightforward.
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Agreed: The Clerk will write to the Department to check whether the
Adoption (Intercountry Aspects) Bill provides for all relevant social information
relating to the child to be given to the adoptive parents (as in domestic adoption
legislation), or whether there are associated Departmental procedures to support
such provision.
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Ms McWilliams drew members' attention to the South Armagh Rural Health Partnership
as an excellent example of a local community project providing a support service
for those with mental health problems.
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8. Date and Time of Next Meeting
The next Committee meeting will be held at 2:00 pm in Room 135, Parliament
Buildings on Wednesday, 7 March 2001.
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The meeting ended at 3:50 pm.
DR J HENDRON
COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN
March 2001
21 February 2001 / Menu
/ 14 March 2001
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