Present:
Dr J Hendron (Chairman)
;Mrs P Armitage
Mr P Berry
Rev R Coulter
Mrs A Courtney
Mr T Gallagher (Deputy Chairman)
Mr J Kelly
Mr A McFarland
Ms M McWilliams
Ms S Ramsey

In Attendance:
Mr P Hughes (Committee Clerk)
Mr D Harkin (Assistant Clerk)
Mrs K McFerran (Executive Support)
Mr B Greene (Administrative Support)
Dr J Thompson (Assembly Researcher)

An apology was received from Mrs Robinson.

i.On behalf of members, the Chairman welcomed Mrs Annie Courtney, who replaced Mrs Carmel Hanna on the Committee with effect from 21 January 2002.

ii. The Chairman reported on the informal meeting that he and a number of members had yesterday with Healthy Cities Belfast, which is linked to the World Health Organisation and funded by the Eastern HSS Board and Belfast City Council. Dr Hendron welcomed the contribution of the organisation to a positive health policy agenda in Belfast, and he advised that documentation would be copied to members.

iii. The Chairman reported on the informal meeting earlier in the day with representatives of the Ulster Cancer Foundation's Patient Forum, at which the patients had voiced their considerable frustration at the lack of movement on the new Regional Cancer Centre.

Agreed: The Clerk will write to the Department to request an update on the proposed Regional Cancer Centre (including funding plans) and to ask when a decision can be expected on the go-ahead for the Centre.

iv. Agreed: In response to a letter to the Chairman from the NI Association for Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus requesting support for its bid for additional funding in respect of its core administration costs, the Chairman will write to the Department to lend the Committee's support to the bid.

The minutes of the meeting of 16 January 2002 were agreed.

i. Agreed: The Committee considered and agreed a draft letter from the Chairman to the Minister outlining proposals for an emergency task force to address the crisis in the hospitals.

ii. Members were issued with a draft paper prepared by the Clerk on the arrangements for the handling of Committee meetings, including press releases and media access, which will be considered at next week's meeting.

i. Members noted the formal response from OFMDFM declining the Committee's request for a meeting with the First and Deputy First Minister to discuss Health Service funding. Mr Kelly requested that his dissatisfaction at the decision be recorded.

ii. The Clerk will brief the Committee at next week's meeting on the legal advice received in relation to the letter from staff at the NI Hospice.

i. Plastic Materials and Articles in Contact with Food (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2002

Agreed:That the Health, Social Services and Public Safety Committee is content with the Department's proposal for the Plastic Materials and Articles in Contact with Food (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2002.

ii. Statutory Rule No. 05/02 - Optical Charges and Payments (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2002

That the Health, Social Services and Public Safety Committee has considered Statutory Rule No. 05/02 - Optical Charges and Payments (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2002 and, subject to the Examiner of Statutory Rules being satisfied as to its technical effectiveness, has no objection to the Rule.

Departmental Officials:
Mr Peter Deazley
Mr Robin MacRory
Ms Claire Thompson

Clause-by-clause consideration of the Personal Social Services (Amendment) Bill:

The Committee considered the Department's written response to its request for a viable alternative title for the Bill that would be more descriptive of its purpose. Following discussions on the response, a number of members remained unconvinced that it was not possible to give the Bill a more descriptive title without defeating the objective of the title.

Agreed: The Committee agreed to defer further consideration of the Bill until next week's meeting, when further expert advice will be sought to provide clarification on the matter.

Departmental Officials:
Mr Peter Deazley
Mr Robin MacRory
Ms Claire Thompson

Mr Deazley spoke to a briefing paper tabled for the Committee on the need for accelerated passage for the Personal Social Services (Preserved Rights) Bill, in order to meet the deadline of 08 April 2002. He explained that the Bill is being introduced in order to transfer funding responsibility for some 1740 residential care and nursing home residents, in care since before April 1993, from the Department for Social Development to the HSS Boards.

Mr Deazley explained that failure to meet the intended transfer date could have an extremely detrimental impact on the vulnerable residents, their families, carers and the residential care and nursing home sector, raising genuine fears about how the necessary funding costs will be met.

The Committee deliberated. Some members raised concerns about the delays in the progress of the legislation, which had led to the need for accelerated passage for the Bill.

Agreed: The Committee will consider the matter further at next week's meeting. The Clerk will arrange for the relevant Departmental Officials to attend.

Departmental Officials:
Mr Brian Grzymek
Ms Ruth Clarke
Ms Miriam McCarthy
Mr Tom Reid

Mr Grzymek spoke to a briefing paper, which was tabled at the meeting, summarising the latest position on bed closures to new admissions as a result of the virus infections in the hospitals and outlining the contingency measures being taken to address the situation.

He explained that all HSS Boards and Trusts were working in close collaboration to tackle the problem, which had now reduced. The numbers waiting for fracture surgery at the Royal Victoria Hospital have now returned to the pre-infection level. The number of beds closed to new patients stood at 73 at lunchtime today compared with 121 yesterday and 156 on 16 January.

Agreed: The Clerk will write to invite Departmental Officials to provide a further update at next week's meeting.

Departmental Officials:
Mr Brian Grzymek
Dr Miriam McCarthy
Ms Ruth Clarke
Mr Tom Reid

Mr Grzymek explained that the pre-consultation exercise in relation to the specification for a new centralised maternity hospital was designed to provide an open and transparent process and enable as many groups as possible to contribute to the process. As a result of these inputs, the original draft was changed substantially to reflect the views of interested parties as far as possible. The draft paper has been substantially agreed by the list of consultees with key interests. The present consultation process will provide a further opportunity for interested parties to help shape the document.

Dr McCarthy advised that the essential core services as outlined in the paper were those integral areas without which obstetrics could not take place. She emphasized that this was not to undervalue the importance attached to the additional services such as gynaecology and specialised paediatric services.

Mr Grzymek advised that the Minister is expected to make a decision on the siting of the maternity hospital in early summer, following a 12-week final period of consultation when the Belfast City Hospital and the Royal Group of Hospitals HSS Trusts have submitted their respective proposals.

Mr Berry and Mr McFarland left the meeting at 4:20 pm and 4:25 pm respectively.

Departmental Official: Mr Leslie Frew

Mr Frew briefed the Committee on the broad thrust of the Fund, which is to increase resources in key statutory services for children in need or young people at risk that were historically underfunded. An initial allocation of £10.5m was made in April 2001 to ten departmental projects that will provide specialist residential units, recognise the needs of children with disabilities, and help children who fall out of education. Allocation of the remaining block of £18.5m will begin in April 2002.

Representatives from the Children's Voluntary Sector:
Ms Annie Campbell, NICVA
Ms Mary Cunningham, Childcare NI
Mr Maurice Leeson, Barnardos

The panel highlighted the importance of applications demonstrating the voluntary/statutory sectors working in partnership. They also maintained the importance of support costs being available to the voluntary/community sector if it was not to be unfairly disadvantaged.

The panel supported the principle that funding should be available for new high quality initiatives as well as the extension or enhancement of existing projects. They emphasized that all projects should clearly demonstrate proper financial accountability, sound appraisal, monitoring and evaluation, and measurable evidence-based objectives.

The panel proposed that the Children's fund should look for its strategic direction to the Children's Services Planning Process, which has identified a range of co-ordinated and targeted actions to address the needs of children in poverty.

The voluntary/community sector believed that the selection criteria should be robust and unambiguous and consistent across Northern Ireland.

The panel argued that the Children's Services Planning Process would offer the best way to deliver the fund that both enhances key statutory services and ensures voluntary/community sector participation. They did not support the proposal for a two thirds/one third split between the statutory and voluntary/community sectors. Instead, they advocated partnership projects between the statutory/voluntary sectors, which should be selected against the agreed criteria and funded on merit.

In relation to a proposed administrative structure for the distribution of funds, the panel agreed that the Fund should be aligned with the Children and Young Peoples Committees. They also recommended that the membership of the Committees be expanded to increase the level of voluntary/community representation and that that sector should be fully involved in the decision-making process.

Agreed: The Clerk will prepare a draft letter from the Chairman to the Department of Finance and Personnel to reflect the views of the Committee on the consultation document. Members were advised that they could input further to the response through the Clerk's Office over the next couple of days.

Departmental Officials:
Mr Paul Simpson
Mr Don Hill
Mr Leslie Frew
Mr Brian Grzymek

Mr Simpson advised that the current document was still very much "work in progress", as the Minister has not yet indicated how the additional £41m for allocated for service development will be spent. He explained that the final document, which is expected next month, would carry much more detail.

Mr Hill explained that the final SDA would include specific actions on improving customer service and performance. In terms of customer service, there would be a programme of equality impact assessments, reviews of good practices, improved access to information, assessment of staff attitudes and user involvement.

Ms Ramsey requested a written update from the Department on progress against the recommendations from the Committee's Inquiry into Residential and Secure Accommodation for Children in NI and the 22 targets in the current Programme for Government.

Agreed: In view of the limited time, and the importance of the subject, the Committee decided to suspend its consideration of the draft SDA until next week's meeting. The Clerk will write to invite the same Departmental Officials to attend.

Mr Gallagher left the meeting at 6:02 pm.

i. Agreed: The Committee acceded to a request from the Department to make its statistical returns on occupational therapy waiting lists on a quarterly basis instead of monthly, in order to ease administrative pressures and help provide a better view of underlying trends.

ii. Agreed: Following a concern raised by Ms Armitage in relation to waiting times for cancer treatment in the local hospitals, it was agreed that the Clerk should write to the Department to request details of hospitals' guidelines on this matter.

The next meeting will be at 2:00 pm on Wednesday, 30 January 2002 in Room 135, Parliament Buildings. Members are reminded that the meeting will be preceded by a visit in the morning to Craigavon Area Hospital (itinerary to follow).

DR J HENDRON
COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN
January 2002

16 January 2002 / Menu /29 January 2002