MINUTES OF PROCEEDINGS OF THE HEALTH, SOCIAL SERVICES AND PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE
IN ROOM 135, PARLIAMENT BUILDINGS
AT 2:00 PM ON WEDNESDAY, 28 MARCH 2001

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

Apologies: Mr J Kelly

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 2:03 pm.

1. The Chairman thanked the Clerk and staff for arranging the Committee's successful visit to a Primary Care Trust and a NHS Direct Call Centre in London. The Committee had been very impressed with the presentation by the Chief Executive of the Hillingdon Primary Care Trust, which emphasised the crucial importance of a bottom-up approach, with people working together and equality between the health care professions.

2. The Chairman reported briefly on the meeting that he had with Dermatologists from the Belfast City Hospital regarding the confusion over the future siting of centralised dermatological services in Belfast. He will write to the Chairperson of the Eastern HSS Board to request clarification on the up-to-date position.

3. He further advised of a successful informal meeting of some Members with Heartbreak, the relatives concern group formed as a consequence of the organ retention scandal.

Agreed: The Clerk will write to the Department to request that a second relative's place be provided on the recently established Relatives Reference Group, and that a commitment be given to regular meetings between that Group and the Inquiry Team established to investigate organ retention in Northern Ireland.

2. Minutes of the Last Two Meetings

The minutes of the meetings of 20 and 21 March 2001 were agreed.

3. Matters Arising

The Clerk will update the Secretary of the Registered Homes Confederation on the Committee Chairman's letter to the Minister expressing concern about the Department's scaling down of the HSS Boards' proposed fees for Registered Homes from 5% to 3.5%.

4. Subordinate Legislation

1. Question put and agreed to:

That the Health, Social Services and Public Safety Committee has considered the following Statutory Rules:

No. 85/2001 Food Safety (General Food Hygiene) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland); No. 89/2001 General Dental Services (Amendment No. 2) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2001; and No. 104/2001 Travelling Expenses and Remission of Charges (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2001

and, subject to the Examiner of Rules being satisfied as to their technical correctness, has no objections to the Rules.

2. Agreed: The Committee has no objections to the Department's proposals for the following two Statutory Rules: Welfare Food Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2001; and The Northern Ireland Social Care Council (Appointments and Procedure) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2001.

Public Session

5. Presentation by the Royal College of Psychiatrists

Panel Members: Dr Fred Browne
Dr Johnston Calvert
Dr Anne Murray
Dr Danny Brennan

The Chairman welcomed the panel to the meeting at 2:27 pm, after which Dr Browne presented a paper on mental health issues in Northern Ireland, the main points in which are set out below. This was followed by a question-and-answer session, which is summarized in Annex 1.

• There is no health without mental health.

• There is a lack of good quality research on mental health in Northern Ireland. It is estimated that as many as one in four or five people in Northern Ireland may be suffering from significant mental disorder.

• Children reared in conditions of social adversity (for example, inter-parental violence, neglect, emotional and physical abuse) are badly affected by such pressures, which can lead to eating disorders, drug and alcohol abuse, early pregnancy, and sometimes suicide.

• Moving into adulthood, people can develop a whole range of mental illnesses such as anxiety, depression, schizophrenia and depressive psychosis.

• The elderly population is increasing and with it the numbers suffering from dementia.

• All these mental disorders cause not only suffering for the individuals who have the condition, but there are costs also to their carers because of the demands made of them.

• Recent pronouncements on improving support for carers and a more co-operative approach throughout the health service are welcomed.

• Years of chronic under-funding and lack of local accountability has left mental health services in a perilous condition.

• There are huge social costs (e.g. crime-related) and demands on medical services.

• There is still a stigma attached to mental disorder, which should be challenged.

• The number of hospital beds has decreased by one-third in the last 10 years while community facilities have also reduced.

• Pressure on hospital beds has increased dramatically with admissions almost doubling in the last 10 years. Bed occupancy rates are often over 100%.

• Specialist psychiatric services, particularly for children, are in great difficulty. Young people are often inappropriately placed in wards for disturbed adults.

• There is a lack of proper specialist facilities for disturbed mentally ill patients.

• Northern Ireland needs to develop a range of psychotherapy services.

The Chairman thanked the panel, and they left the meeting at 3:55 pm.
The meeting was suspended at 3:55 pm and resumed at 4:00 pm.

Private Session

The Committee deliberated.

Draft Report on the Family Law Bill (NIA Bill 4/00), proposed by the Chairman, brought up and read.

Ordered:

• That the draft Report be read a second time, paragraph by paragraph.

• Paragraphs 1 to 37 read and agreed to.

Resolved:

• That the Report be the Fourth Report of the Committee to the Assembly.

• That the Report should include written and oral evidence from the following witnesses. (Annex 2)

Resolved:

• That the Report be printed.

7. AOB

(i) The draft response to the consultation document 'Building the Way Forward in Primary Care' was copied to members for consideration at next week's meeting.

(ii)Agreed: In view of the extension to the consultation period for the 'Investing in Health' document, the Clerk will arrange for a presentation from the relevant Departmental Officials.

(iii) Agreed: The Committee will await the Departmental Memorandum before launching its consultation exercise on the recently announced Proposals for a Carer's and Disabled Children's Bill.

(iv) Agreed: The Committee was content with the draft programme for a lunchtime event on Men's Health issues on 12 June 2001.

(v) Agreed: The Committee agreed to a request from the Royal College of Midwives to make a presentation to the full Committee on its role in the primary and secondary care sectors. The Clerk will make the necessary arrangements.

(vi) Agreed: The Clerk will commission research on the relative cost effectiveness of two new drugs to treat rheumatoid arthritis, Enbrel and Remicade, in terms of the potential social security savings off-set from numbers who could return to work as a consequence.

(vii) The Committee will receive a briefing from its UUJ adviser on his work to date on the Department's Budget figures at its next meeting, which will be held in private.

(viii) The Committee noted that the informal meeting with the Haemophilia Society (NI) will now take place at 2:30 pm on Tuesday, 3 April in Room 211, Parliament Buildings.

8. Date and Time of the Next Meeting

The next meeting will be held at 2:00 pm on Wednesday, 4 April 2001 in Room 135, Parliament Buildings.

The meeting ended at 4:35 pm.

DR J HENDRON
COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN

March 2001

21 March 2001 / Menu / 4 April 2001