A new strategy for cancer

Traditionally cancer treatments have had a short-sighted focus on the offending individual cells. David Agus suggests a new, cross-disciplinary approach, using atypical drugs, computer modeling and protein analysis to treat and analyze the whole body.

Explanations needed on increased waiting lists & £11million bonuses to consultants

Today I am calling on the Minister for Health to provide a detailed explanation as to why waiting lists have increased for the second quarter in a row. I have also asked him to follow the lead of his Scottish counterpart and seek a freezing of bonus payments to consultants until the public finances improve.

My call follows revelations that £11 million was paid to consultants in bonuses here last year.

The Minister for Health says waiting lists have increased because of the cut backs in the health budget and the delay in approving extra funding for swine flu. This may be so but nobody can properly test his argument because he is refusing to provide details of how he will protect front line services in the face of the proposed cutbacks.

Nor does it explain why the Minister was then able to return £20million to the Department of Finance this month; money which was not spent on Swine Flu.

The increasing trend in waiting lists is extremely worrying and suggests either there is a policy of stealth cuts targeting front line services or the Minister simply does not have a handle on the financial management of the health service in this region.

News that Northern Ireland’s top consultants received over £11m in bonuses last year is concerning. UTV reported last night that one consultant was paid a £73,000 bonus. This is an outrageous amount of money in the current economic climate. It seems the department is favouring the few at a time when many young surgeons and physicians are desperate to get jobs and serve the many in need of care across our region.

The Minister needs to show the same leadership as his Scottish counterpart and seek a freezing of bonus payments to consultants.

Regional action on ‘legal highs’ needed

It was disappointing to get news yesterday that the Health Minister has missed the second British Irish Council meeting in a row to discuss the misuse of drugs in Britain and Ireland .
 
He is sending out all the wrong signals about tackling the drugs trade and consumption across these islands. Last week’s meeting of the British Irish Council discussed the availability of legal highs as well as the drugs crisis in prisons.
 
Minister McGimpsey should have been present for this important discussion to demonstrate his commitment to tackling this problem. He needs to send a much stronger message about the need to deal the drugs crisis, which is particularly severe here in Northern Ireland .
 
Some paramilitaries are now taking matters into their own hands against legal high outlets.
 
Along with the justice agencies, the Minister needs to take much greater control over this issue and move very quickly to control the import and distribution of legal highs as well as educating young people as to the serious health risks these present.
 
The British Irish Council will not meet to discuss drugs for another year.
 
It is time for the Minister for Health to bring forward proposals immediately to deal with legal highs.

Platform for Change is launched

I have had the pleasure of being a member of the Platform for Change Management Committee for the past year or so. The Platform was launched today in Belfast.

It’s been an exciting time and great to see so many people, members of political parties, business types, community activists and ordinary citizens get involved in a political debate about the issues that matter to them.

The consultation meetings which took place with hundreds of people over the past six months were a real breath of fresh air. They proved to me that there is a huge appetite for real politics here in Northern Ireland and that people want their politicians focussed on the issues that matter.

I am in the Assembly to make the North work. Our ambition must be to build a strong region on Irish soil while respecting its inhabitants diverging national aspirations. The SDLP wants to make the North work because a strong North means a stronger Ireland. This is surely an ambition which we can share with the vast majority of people in this region. Platform for Change can play a big part in making Northern Ireland work.

New health budget needed now

The Assembly is debating the massive increase forecast in dementia numbers in this region today.  The Minister for Health is also making a statement on the North – South Ministerial Council - Health. 

I have asked the Minister to give a commitment to bring forward a Health budget which is capable of protecting front line services and maximising the savings available through closer North – South cooperation. 

We are currently spending £50 million a year on dementia in this region, yet the numbers people suffering from the disease will triple here in the next forty years bringing the total to around 50,000.  Experts estimate we will need to be investing some £200 million in coming decades to ensure adequate support for dementia sufferers.

The Minister’s unwillingness to provide any information on how he proposes to defend front line services and essential research will threaten many patient’s care. The Minister needs to bring forward now a new health budget which can give us all the assurance that the stealth cuts in front lines services will stop and stop now.

Time for Minister to accept his duty to survivors of clerical and institutional child abuse

I have called on the Minister for Health to confirm that it is the duty of the Executive to uphold the rights of survivors of clerical and institutional sex abuse in Northern Ireland .

The Minister for Health has still not replied to a motion which was brought before the Assembly on November 2nd and which called for the Executive to commission an assessment of the extent of abuse and neglect in Northern Ireland, and to work with the authorities in the South to enhance child protection, as well as to provide funding to support helpline and counselling services. This is an ominous sign and sends all the wrong signals to the hundreds of survivors in this region who are now stepping out of the shadows in search of justice.

We now need a step change from the Minister. He must acknowledge publicly that it is the duty of the Executive to uphold the rights of survivors of abuse and to seek redress and justice for them. 

The department also has a duty to pursue those who perpetuated these crimes against innocent children and to seek redress from those institutions, orders and dioceses which were employing the abusers during this dark period of our history.

The survivors need action from the Minister and the Executive. I have asked him to meet with a delegation of survivors to hear first hand their experiences and to acknowledge that these historic wrongs must now be righted.

Muscular Dystrophy Campaign

I am speaking at the AGM of the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign this morning.

There has been some good news for the sufferers of this awful disease over the past year. A dedicated Consultant Paediatric Neurologist has been appointed however there is still no multidisciplinary team equipped to deal with the emotional and practical support needed for carers. Another major gap is the lack of access to rare genetic testing of blood and muscle to confirm suspected hereditary muscle diagnosis. Nor are there any speech and language therapists specialising in MD here in NI.

The campaign’s big objective at the moment is the appointment of a dedicated Muscular Dystrophy Care Advisor for Northern Ireland which is currently with the Belfast Trust for funding.

The Minster has much work to do before he can claim services in this region are on a par with those in other parts of these islands.

The legitimate questions about swine flu

This morning I called on the Minister for Health to initiate a review of the Swine Flu outbreak in Northern Ireland .

I believe there are lessons which can be learnt, not least why half a million vaccines are currently stockpiled and may never be used.

It appears that the drug companies may be the big winners. Everyone agrees that the government must do everything to protect the population from a potential pandemic. We support the Minister and Chief Medical Officer in ensuring that our region is fully prepared for any outbreak. However the experience of swine flu does raise questions which now need addressed.

Glaxo Smith Kline, the pharmaceutical company which manufactures the vaccine being used here yesterday reported yesterday a 30% increase in sales. In the last quarter of 2009 they claim to have sold £8 billion worth of product. This raises serious questions about whether the global drugs companies have profited from the swine flue outbreak. In the future it is important that we review purchasing arrangements to make sure that governments do not end up paying out millions on vaccines that do not get used.

Assembly group discusses overseas development

Mike Foster MP visited the Assembly today to meet with the All Party Group on International Development.  Mr Foster came to prominence for being the sponsor of the Westminster Bill to ban fox hunting back in the late 90’s and is now and international development minister. We discussed how our region could work with the British and Irish governments to develop a regional aid programme. Its about figuring out how we could develop a strategy which will allow us  to play an active role in the response to disasters and the reconstruction of countries such as Haiti.

The All Party Group does not enjoy the same status as a statutory committee and so does not receive any finance from the Northern Ireland Assembly as it remains within the jurisdiction of the British Government.

The group, under Carmel Hanna’s leadership, met with their counterparts in the South including Overseas Development Minister Peter Power TD to discuss ways in which they could contribute to Irish Aid’s efforts in assisting with international development.

We have many people from this region involved in overseas aid work though our numerous charities, the British and Irish Governments. I believe the time has come to look at how we can make a contribution of our own. To allow this region to take its place amongst other regions around the world and formally recognise the many thousands of our people who play such a big part in overseas development.