Robin Swann
North Antrim · Ulster Unionist Party · Northern Ireland
“I thank the Minister for his detailed statement. I know how passionate he is about the subject and how many times he has brought it to the Executive.”
“It has been reported that today will potentially be the warmest day of the year. As we move into the summer and our summer holidays, I want to raise public awareness of wildfires across Northern Ireland, which have been detrimental to farmland and our environment over the past number of years.”
“Wildfires are still having a detrimental impact on our environment and, occasionally, on livestock, but that reduction shows the impact of the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service's proactive approach to educating the general public and engaging with rural communities and schools on its fire safety message, which is to stay alert, not…”
“There has been a lot of talk of sport in this place over the past few days, with everybody concentrating on UEFA. One sport that is going on across Northern Ireland at the minute is cross-community and goes across all age groups without fear, favour or distinction: pigeon racing.”
“I want to put on record that, since this place passed the amendment that recognised pigeon racing as a sport under the 2016 Act, over the past five years, pigeon racing clubs across Northern Ireland have been able to obtain £113,000 of rates rebates through the sports and recreation rate relief, allowing many of those clubs to continue ra…”
“There was much coverage on social media over the weekend of an incident in Staines in England, in which a police car rammed a young calf to bring it under control. It has restarted the conversation about animal cruelty. <BR /> <BR />I am dealing with a specific case in my constituency.”
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“I thank the Member for that point. He may not be aware, but I thought that, being a member of the Health Committee, he would be, that the Department continues to publish the R paper every week and put it online. The Executive met fortnightly, but we continue to produce that weekly update. <BR /> <BR />I will return to some of the decisions that demonstrate that anything to do with COVID was a collective responsibility of the Executive.”
“Apologies, Mr Deputy Speaker. <BR /> <BR />I think that it was Ms Cameron who asked what ability there would be to reintroduce or extend powers if necessary, should there be another variant or an international requirement. That is also being explored. The basis for the regulations is the Public Health Act (Northern Ireland) 1967. As I have always said at the Dispatch Box, all decisions to date have been made by the collective authority of the Executive, so we need to seek legal guidance. The Member will be fully aware that I need to seek that clarification before I can announce any further iterations or make decisions on my own, as Minister of Health.”
“I will respond to those points in reverse order. The current sunset date for the regulations is 24 March. I think that it was Ms Cameron who asked what ability there would be to reintroduce or extend —”
“In the absence of an Executive, however, I am seeking, as I said, legal guidance on how I can replace the bulk, if not all, of the remaining restrictions with clear guidance and advice. As I said, it would be intolerable if we were to find ourselves in the position of being advised that this week is the time to lift remaining restrictions but had no legal or political mechanism to do so. I await legal advice on what options I currently have. Let me be clear, however: the easiest way to have ensured that the restrictions were lifted would have been not to collapse the Executive last week. As they say, a week is a long time in politics. The Executive were due to meet on Thursday, and that decision could have been made there.”
“I welcome today's debate on the three amendments to the Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) Regulations and the amendment to the face coverings regulations. I thank Members for their contributions. Ms Armstrong's last question about what will happen is the most pertinent. As yet, I have not received legal advice on what will happen, where the powers lie and what steps I can take. We knew and understood what the process was prior to the First Minister's resignation. Now, however — not for the first time, unfortunately — we are in uncharted waters. <BR /> <BR />As I said yesterday, it was my intention to go to the Executive this week to advocate the removal of COVID restrictions.”
“Doing that will not only help to keep you, your families and others safe; you will undoubtedly play your part in keeping our society and economy open and in reducing the pressures that our health system faces as we move into the time of year that increases the pressures on our health service and its workers. <BR /> <BR />I commend the regulations to the Assembly.”
“<BR /> <BR />The amendment to the wearing of face coverings regulations removes the requirement to provide proof of exemption if requested by a relevant person and reinstates the reasonable excuse of severe distress. <BR /> <BR />As has been the case throughout the pandemic, any restrictions will be subject to regular review by the Executive. Likewise, all Ministers have repeatedly said that we will not retain restrictions for a day longer than is necessary. As always, if we are to step our way out of restrictions, both personal and public responsibility is required. I again take the opportunity to urge everyone to continue to make safer choices and follow the public health advice.”
“3) regulations amend the principal regulations to permit dancing in hospitality and other venues and the reopening of nightclubs. They amend the requirement for COVID status certification so that that applies only to nightclubs and indoor unseated or partially seated events with 500 people or more. They make an amendment so that failure to comply with regulation 3 is not an offence; that is to say that it is not an offence for a person responsible for a shop to breach their duty to take responsible measures to limit the transmission of the virus. They remove a statutory requirement for those responsible for office premises to have social distancing measures in place.”
“The amendments were, first, to amend the language used to describe how a person must remain in their seat in a theatre, concert hall, conference or exhibition venue or similar venue except to access their seat. They replaced the reference to accessing a table, which was relevant to a hospitality setting but not a performance venue. Secondly, they corrected the drafting of regulation 11, which had inadvertently become corrupted in the preparation of the regulations for publication. None of the changes made altered the policy intent. <BR /> <BR />The amendment (No. 2) regulations removed the requirement to be seated in performance venues and hospitality settings and removed the maximum number that can be seated at a table. <BR /> <BR />The amendment (No.”
“They also decided that the requirement to provide proof of exemption from wearing a face covering should be removed and that the reasonable excuse of severe distress be reintroduced to the regulations. Therefore, while the requirement to provide proof of exemption may no longer apply, the other provisions remain. <BR /> <BR />Turning to the regulations that are the subject of debate today, with your permission, I will take the three coronavirus restrictions amendments first, followed by the amendment relating to face coverings. <BR /> <BR />The first set of amended regulations today is the amendment No. 6, which made minor amendments to ensure that the regulations fully aligned with the policy intent and did not make any substantive change to the restrictions.”
“At their meeting on 20 January, the Executive were given an update by the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) and the Chief Scientific Adviser (CSA), who confirmed that Northern Ireland was likely to be past the peak in case numbers, although it remained a possibility that case numbers could rebound due to the impact of the return of schools. They also advised that hospital admissions and bed occupancy as a result of community transmission of COVID had peaked and were beginning to fall slowly. The data showed that a rise in COVID ICU occupancy was not expected in this wave and that the amendments to the regulations were a balanced and proportionate intervention based on the best available evidence. <BR /> <BR />Taking into account the improved outlook in hospital pressures, the Executive decided to relax some restrictions.”
“SR 2022/16, the Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2021 (Amendment No. 3) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2022, was made on 26 January 2022.”
“Today, Members are considering four statutory rules that are narrow in scope and that implement the decisions of the Executive taken on 20 January 2022 to ease the restrictions. SR 2022/6, the Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2021 (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2022, was made on 14 January 2022. SR 2022/11, the Health Protection (Coronavirus, Wearing of Face Coverings) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2022, was made on 21 January 2022 and came into operation at noon on the same day. SR 2022/12, the Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2021 (Amendment No. 2) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2022, was made on 21 January and came into operation at noon on that day.”
“It does not need the undermining that the Member seems to be building up to in his campaign and in the letter that he wrote to me on 14 January, in which he talked about pursuing:”
“That is not the case with Daisy Hill Hospital. The Member has tried to portray that to be the case in the media. That is unfortunate, and he is undermining the service and the hospital and the work that they are trying to do. I am aware that the Member and some of his party colleagues have taken to social media to make that point. <BR /> <BR />I acknowledge the responses from Mark Taylor, the Northern Ireland director of the Royal College of Surgeons, and Alan Stout, the chair of the BMA Northern Ireland GP Committee, who asked the Member and his party colleagues to "be careful" what they were petitioning for, because the priority is the safe service at Daisy Hill. It is about high-quality general surgery for all patients in the area. General surgery has changed throughout the UK and needs major support.”
“In regard to providing that service, between 1 December and the end of March, an offer of £5 million was made that, unfortunately, was not acceptable to Community Pharmacy at that stage, but my departmental officials, the Health and Social Care Board and Community Pharmacy continue to work together to bring about a resolution to the long-running dispute in regard to that specific service.”
“On the wider scheme, the service that the Member talked about will be part of the 2022-25 funding package that has already been agreed. The funding envelope for that will be part of the overall Department of Health budget as well.”
“Subject to the agreement of a funding envelope, the three-year plan will aim to consolidate and build on the considerable advances that have been seen in community pharmacy services and the role of local pharmacists and pharmacy teams that the population have benefited from over the past two years. Looking to the future, it is important that we work together to build on the significant successes that community pharmacy has had and continues to have.”
“I thank the Member. My Department has been working with the Health and Social Care Board and Community Pharmacy Northern Ireland (CPNI), which the Member said he had met, on a commissioning plan for community pharmacy services. In 2021-22, the focus was on the provision of core services. That included dispensing, repeat dispensing, adherence and some activities and services that ensured access to medicines and advice for the public, including vulnerable groups and those receiving end-of-life care. That ensured that local pharmacy services were available to meet the needs of the people of Northern Ireland and to support the pressures in our health and social care services. <BR /> <BR />CPNI and the Health and Social Care Board have agreed a commissioning plan for the next three years that will cover 2022 to 2025.”
“I will gladly support this being taken forward by Executive Departments, or even the Executive Office, with regard to who should take ownership of the Member's Bill.”
“The Member will know that the Bill is going through its Committee Stage in the Education Committee, and he indicated the response that I gave. I have also written to my Executive colleagues to get agreement on which Department should lead this work. Without such agreement, no Executive amendments can be proposed to the Bill in relation to either the responsible Department or other technical issues that are presented in the Bill. That leaves my Department open to the risk that the duty will be placed on it, even though the issue would normally be outside its remit. While I support the Member and the intent of his private Member's Bill, I cannot accept sole responsibility resting with the Health Department or the financial implications of that. I know that is where the Member is coming from.”
“I very much recognise and share the objectives and the broad intent of the Bill. However, period products are not classified as healthcare products, as, in general, menstruation does not require health treatment, nor is it preventable. The undeniable health impacts do not make the underlying lack of period products a healthcare issue. Rather, it is closely related to poverty, social justice and gender equality, all of which are outside my Department's remit. As such, whilst I very much welcome the underlying principle of the Bill, I am unable to support the duty being placed solely on my Department.”
“I thank the Member. He will be aware that I also indicated in the letter that period poverty is a very serious issue and the lack of access to period products can have significant consequences. We can all agree that the statistic that 40% of girls report having to use toilet paper because they could not afford period products is shocking and that it is very wrong that mothers have to choose between period products and feeding their children. The lack of period products can also negatively impact on physical and mental health. Tackling period poverty is therefore important and must continue. <BR /> <BR />I am aware of the Bill to provide free period products. That Bill will provide a scheme for my Department to provide free products to anyone in Northern Ireland.”
“I thank the Member for her point. She will be aware that, last week, one care provider announced the recruitment of an additional 300 staff across Northern Ireland to support those packages. It is about supporting independent providers and trusts that are still actively recruiting to fill domiciliary care places. At the minute, we should encourage people to come forward because we were able to put in place increased pay rates as a result of the additional money that was provided towards the end of last year.”
“The Member will be aware that, towards the end of last year, I gave an additional £23 million to our domiciliary and care providers so that they could increase the capacity of provision and the workforce. Although that money was given at the end of November/start of December, it has taken until the last few weeks to see those additional places and recruitment processes come into place to provide the additional packages to support people on their discharge from hospital.”
“Again, I thought that I had explained this before to the Member in the House: they are not my powers that I seek to extend but the powers of the Executive. It is the Executive that make the decisions on any extension or motion that is brought to the House on restrictions or regulations. I wanted to make sure that I was in full capacity of what the Executive intend to do on 10 February before bringing a motion to the House about the fullness of the powers to be extended at the request of the Executive.”
“I thank the Member. Quite simply, I withdrew the motion because the steps that the Executive are going to take on 10 February still need to be clarified. It would have been premature to debate a matter that had not passed through the Executive. I note that it was the provisional Order Paper that included the motion. I wrote to the Business Committee asking to withdraw the motion on that Tuesday. The Business Committee had not met, so when I answered Mr Allister, at that point, the Business Committee had not indicated to me that the debate would not proceed. I did not want to pre-empt the decision of the Business Committee.”
“If the Member has a specific clinic that is experiencing challenges, he can raise that with me. The issue that he raises has been talked about in a number of areas, but the Royal College of General Practitioners and the Northern Ireland general practitioners committee have often told me that that is the experience with only a small number of practices. Our GPs are doing over and above their hours and making sure that anybody who contacts their surgery receives a call back and is given the opportunity for an appointment over the phone or is being seen face to face as well. If there is a specific practice about which the Member has concerns, he can let me know and I will raise it.”
“I thank the Member for his question. The Adjournment debate last week was on overall provision and what additional supports and measures are being provided for our GP services, by which I mean additional funding to support them with winter pressures and additional money for telephone services to make sure that GPs can see as many patients as need to be seen and do telephone or online consultations with patients, where that is suitable.”
“If the Member has followed the issue, I am sure that he will be aware that the trust has said that it will go out to consultation on Daisy Hill. He will also be aware of the reason that the board made that decision. Out of six substantive posts, only two general surgeons were in place. One of those was due to retire, so the steps taken were safety measures. Those were agreed by the board and recommended to the Health and Social Care Board.”
“There is an intention to go down that route and produce an updated report on the direction of travel. The Member will be aware that a lot of the work done on the elective care strategy, the mental health strategy and the cancer strategy involves different work streams on rebuilding. When we have the capacity and the headroom in the Department, we will produce such a report that the Member talks about.”
“From briefings to the Health Committee, the Member will be aware of work that is being done specifically on the nursing and midwifery workforce.”
“Effective workforce planning is a key theme of the workforce strategy, with the aim of developing, by 2026, and sustainably funding an optimum workforce model for the reconfiguration of health and social care services. <BR /> <BR />Operational workforce planning is the responsibility of employers, such as the trusts and other parts of the system. Long-term regional workforce planning is led by the Department and aims to secure a workforce and skills supply over the next five- to 10-year horizon. The Member will certainly see our concentration and focus. It used to be that, when we talked about recruitment and retention, it was all under one framework, but, since the middle of last year, we have split them. While we look at recruitment, we look at retention as a separate piece of work.”
“I thank the Member. She is right: it is about how you frame your support for your local health service. When people undermine it and talk about hospital closures, that unnerves and unsettles staff. <BR /> <BR />She will be aware that my Department published the comprehensive 'Health and Social Care Workforce Strategy 2026: Delivering for Our People'. It was originally envisaged that three consecutive action plans would be developed during the lifetime of the strategy. The first action plan was to cover 2018 to 2020. The pandemic response delayed the formal development of the second action plan. However, a number of actions were progressed in 2021.”
“As a fellow MLA for North Antrim, he will know well that, in the past, the people who talked about the threat to the Causeway Hospital, and said that it was going to close, were actually the ones who were driving it down the road towards closure, because they made it so much harder for the management and staff, of not just the hospital but the Northern Trust, to recruit. When the narrative around the Causeway Hospital became that it is an integral part of not just the Northern Trust but the entire health estate, it was easier for the management of the Northern Trust to recruit and put that hospital on a firmer basis.”
“I do not know where the Member has got that intimation, because I have always been clear in the House that we need every square foot of our hospital provision. The Member has heard me say that many times. I can assure any Member in the House of that. <BR /> <BR />Recently, I have seen Members on social media and in print media talking about hospital closures and threats to hospitals. There is no such thing. No such thing has happened or has even been intimated under my stewardship of the Ministry, because we need every bit of our hospital estate. We actually need to invest more in our hospital estate. The Member will be well aware of the support that Causeway Hospital has received.”
“It remains our priority. It is the only solution to the long-term sustainability of the system.”
“That will, of course, have an impact on the number of acute hospitals that we have. <BR /> <BR />Whilst the pandemic has provided challenges to our ways of working, it has, by necessity, slowed down our progress of transformation. The work to reform services is being undertaken in very difficult circumstances. The professionals who are providing the expertise to my officials are the same staff who are standing on the front line across the trusts. Nevertheless, 'Health and Wellbeing 2026 — Delivering Together' remains the overarching strategy for transforming health and social care services. Decisions on the nature of and approach to rebuilding services will be considered in adherence to the principles that are set out in that strategy. As we rebuild health and social care services, the transformation will continue.”
“Work is under way to consider our urgent and emergency care services, improve our elective care work and consider the provision of general surgery, all of which have a direct impact on the number of acute hospitals. <BR /> <BR />I do not yet have the overall direction of travel, and it would not be right for me to assume the outcome of the ongoing work. However, it is safe to say that, with the increasing need in the population for health and social care services, I do not envisage the closure of hospitals, as we will need to maintain capacity. The outcome of the ongoing reviews and reforms is likely to mean the reconfiguration of where specific services are delivered, such as what is envisaged in the elective care framework in terms of elective care sites.”
“I thank the Member for his question. 'Health and Wellbeing 2026 — Delivering Together' was published in 2016 in response to the Bengoa report and huge strategic challenges, including an ageing population; continued increasing demand; long and growing waiting lists; workforce pressures; the emergence of new and more expensive treatments; and ongoing budget constraints. The Delivering Together strategy presented a new strategic direction to transform health and social care services in delivery and planning. COVID-19 has further reinforced the need for the transformation of our system, as highlighted throughout the Bengoa report, including the consideration of how our hospitals are configured and the number of acute hospitals that we have.”
“The Member may or may not be aware that the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service has a public consultation out about how it restructures its management sector. It is looking to map that on to our local councils, which was not done when the new councils were set up. There is a consultation out so that the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service can also follow those boundaries. "Coterminosity" was a great word that was used at the time. It seems to have slipped, but the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service is progressing it.”
“I have had engagement about taking it forward with our new Chief Fire and Rescue Officer, who is a driving force behind the additional services that the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service could provide. He brings experience from previous roles, and he understands the challenges, opportunities and additionality in what the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service can provide. Those conversations are ongoing. As I indicated, I will meet the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service Chief Fire and Rescue Officer and chair next month.”
“We want to work closely with it in order to make sure that there is synergy in the services and supports that the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service provides to its counterparts and compatriots in the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service.”
“I thank the Member for his question. As he is aware, one of the things that makes Northern Ireland unique is the fact that the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service sits under the Department of Health. When I engage with the chair of the service or the Chief Fire and Rescue Officer, they see a natural fit for their services, and they see what they can do additionally by being part of the first response amongst our community responders. As I said, we have engaged with them. <BR /> <BR />The Northern Ireland Ambulance Service also dispatches multiple community responder schemes across Northern Ireland.”
“Discussions between the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service, Northern Ireland Ambulance Service and representative bodies for collaboration in an emergency medical response are ongoing. I will meet the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service's Chief Fire Officer and chair early next month.”
“I thank the Member. I recently received an invitation to meet the family. I am willing to take up that invitation, and, if the Member wants to get in touch with my office, we can coordinate something at that point. <BR /> <BR />As I said, the Ambulance Service previously engaged with the Fire and Rescue Service in a co-responder pilot in which fire crews were dispatched to cardiac arrest calls in the catchment areas of fire stations. That proved successful in improving responses, but further engagement with the Fire Brigades Union was required before it could be adopted more widely. In November of last year, Northern Ireland Ambulance Service's senior management held a meeting with their counterparts in the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service to explore how that could be rolled out across all of Northern Ireland.”
“One of the most recent examples of that was firefighters providing driving assistance to the Ambulance Service in light of sustained workforce pressures. Do I believe that there could be greater collaboration? Yes, I do. Members may be aware that the Fire and Rescue Service was involved in a co-responder pilot in which crews were dispatched to cardiac arrest calls. That pilot proved successful in improving response times, and, last year, I asked that the possibility of its further roll-out be explored. The recent loss has brought the need for that into sharp focus and has brought a renewed sense of determination on my part. Although there is still some final work to be done, I hope to be able to announce details in the very near future.”
“First, I take this opportunity to express my heartfelt condolences to the friends and family of little Maggie Black. One can only but imagine the sense of shock and loss that her family and the wider Carnlough community have experienced over these last two months. In their grief, however, they still find the strength to campaign for greater emergency medical cover in rural communities. I am sure that I speak for all in the House when I commend them for their efforts and selfless determination. <BR /> <BR />In response to the question, I am pleased that there has been much greater collaboration between healthcare providers and the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service over recent times.”
“The co-design process involved stakeholders including victims and survivors, the community and voluntary sector and the Health and Social Care Board. It was important that the respective views of all those groups were taken on board in order to influence the nature and the direction of the network as we made sure that it was fit for service. The Health and Social Care Board completed a public consultation on the establishment of the regional trauma network. My Department continues to ensure that work towards establishing the network is consultative and participatory.”
“I thank the Member for that point. A number of key stakeholders have been instrumental in getting us to where we are today through engagement with my officials and the Health and Social Care Board. As I indicated in an earlier answer, the co-design of the trauma services was an important part of establishing the regional trauma network.”