Question Time: Health, Social Services and Public Safety Tuesday 11 February 2014
Minister for
Health, Social Services and Public Safety, Edwin Poots, discussed his
Department’s actions to promote better health in inner city Belfast during today’s
Question Time. Community support is vital in tackling health inequalities.
A £6m investment is being channelled through the community and voluntary sector
to assist the Public Health Agency in this regard citing the recently launched
East Belfast health framework as an example of the initiative in action.
The Minister
then provided the House with an update on the flu vaccination process in
Northern Ireland and on the availability of cancer drugs here compared to
England. The uptake of the flu vaccine among eligible people has been
encouraging and stock levels have coped well. In regard to the availability of
cancer drugs in Northern Ireland, Mr Poots said that he would certainly
consider approaching his Westminster counterpart about the differing funding
models “if the Executive and Assembly were to support me in doing that”.
Replicating the system in England would see the return of a charge for
prescriptions.
Mr Poots
also answered questions on serious incidents at the Royal Victoria Hospital and
on A&E waiting times at the Ulster hospital.
Royal
Victoria Hospital was also on the agenda during topical questions. Cathal Ó hOisín was
keen to ask the Minister how he is going
to respond to the “shocking news” of patient deaths at the Royal
due to delays and waiting times. Mr Poots was keen to stress that the patients
involved were “seriously unwell” and that it is not yet known for certain how accurate
the serious incident report’s findings that there is a possibility that more
could have been done is at this stage. He was also keen to express that
mortality figures for Northern Ireland compare favourably to those in England
and that he has “sought assurances from officials that all appropriate steps and processes
were taken”.
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