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MINUTES OF PROCEEDINGS OF THE HEALTH, SOCIAL SERVICES AND
PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE Present: Dr J Hendron (Chairman) In Attendance: Mr G Martin (Committee Clerk)
Dr Hendron took the Chair at 2:10 pm.
Private Session 1. Chairman's Opening Remarks i. The Chairman reported briefly on the informal meeting that he and some members had with the Men Against Cancer Foundation on Monday, 2 April, at which its representatives outlined their aims to tackle vigorously the problem of prostate and testicular cancer. The Foundation enjoys the strong support of the Chief Medical Officer, and it expects to have no problem in raising £2m in support of its objectives. The Chairman advised the delegation that they would have the full backing of the Committee. ii. Committee members also met informally with two representatives from the Haemophilia Society (NI) on Tuesday, 3 April where they received a briefing on this blood disorder and the consequences for those sufferers who have contracted the Hepatitis C virus through their NHS treatment. iii. Immediately prior to today's Committee meeting, the Chairman and a number of members met informally with representatives of Age Concern (NI) and had a wide-ranging discussion on issues relating to the older people of Northern Ireland. The Chairman has promised the organisation the Committee's full co-operation and invited it to write to the Committee specifying its main areas of concern. Agreed: The Clerk will, in future, provide a note covering the key points made at such informal meetings.
2. Minutes of the Last Meeting The minutes of the last meeting were agreed.
3. Matters Arising i. The Clerk has made provisional arrangements for a Departmental presentation on the consultation document 'Investing in Health' to be made at the Committee meeting scheduled for Wednesday, 25 April 2001. ii. The Royal College of Midwives will make a presentation at the Committee meeting on Wednesday, 9 May 2001. iii. The Clerk will, in future, for ease of reference, place the record of the main points from a presentation to the Committee alongside its associated question-and-answer summary in an annex to the minutes of proceedings.
4. Subordinate Legislation Question put and agreed to: That the Committee for Health, Social Services and Public Safety has considered
the following Statutory Rules:
Rev R. Coulter and Mr Gallagher joined the meeting at 2:30 pm.
5. Presentation on Departmental Budgets The Chairman welcomed Mr Ciaran O'Neill from the UUJ to the meeting at 2:35 pm. Mr O'Neill gave a private presentation to the Committee on his analysis of the Departmental Accounts for the three sets of financial years from 1997/98 to 1999/2000. Members received a paper detailing the findings under the following headings:
Ms McWilliams left the meeting at 3:10 pm. Agreed: The Committee will commission Mr O'Neill to carry out an audit trail on mental health services from the Department to the Eastern HSS Board and on to the North and West Belfast HSS Trust over the above period. Agreed: The Committee agreed a fee for Mr O'Neill in respect of the work undertaken to date. (Annex 1)
6. Primary Care Response Agreed: The Committee considered and agreed the draft response to the consultation document 'Building the Way Forward in Primary Care', subject to a number of amendments that are outlined in Annex 2 to the minutes. The Clerk will liaise further with the Chairman, who will sign off the final response. For members' ease of reference, the Clerk will produce a simple flow chart outlining the configuration of the proposed models of Primary Care together with an explanation of the terminology used. Ms Ramsey left the meeting at 4:45 pm.
7. AOB i.Agreed: As a result of general disquiet within the Committee about cancer services, the Chairman will invite the Minister to attend the meeting scheduled for Wednesday, 2 May specifically to answer members' concerns on the following points: the state of the equipment at Belvoir Park Hospital; the delay in the roll-out of services to the new site at Belfast City Hospital; and the suggestion that there will be a substantial increase in costs for building the new Cancer Centre from the original figure. ii. Mr McFarland agreed to speak on 'Interfacing with the Assembly' at the NHS management training day organised by the Beeches Training Centre, which will be held in the Long Gallery on Friday, 18 May 2001. iii. Agreed: Following a letter to the Committee from the Camphill Communities Trust highlighting its concern about the inadequate and inconsistent levels of fees paid by the HSS Boards in respect of adults with learning difficulties in its residential homes, the Clerk will write to the Department to seek clarification on the matter. iv. The Clerk advised members of a meeting in the Long Gallery on Wednesday, 30 May 2001 between 4:00 pm and 6:00 pm to launch an initiative in collaboration with the Cochrane Centre in Oxford on research into practice, policy and planning in the Health Service.
8. Date and Time of the Next Meeting The next meeting will be held at 2:00 pm on Wednesday, 25 April 2001 in Room 135, Parliament Buildings. The meeting ended at 5:35 pm.
DR J HENDRON April 2001 |
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