Health Minister Edwin Poots spoke to those attending the DUP party conference on Saturday morning.
Mr Poots referred to the preparations being made for what is usually a busy winter period for the emergency services and health providers; steps he will take towards making health bodies more accountable to the public; and the role each community plays when it comes to healthcare.
Below is his speech in full.
“Last week marked 18 months of the DUP holding the Health Ministry. It will be the end of the Assembly term before we can truly assess the impact the DUP has managed to have on health, but I hope that people already sense at least a degree of movement in the right direction.
“That doesn’t mean we won’t still have difficulties with key challenges such as emergency department pressures and waiting lists for procedures, but we can’t afford to be knocked off course by over-zealous headline writers. The key point is whether the underlying trend is in the right direction, and I believe it is.
“More resources are being directed towards public health, prevention and intervening early.
“In preparation for this winter I am asking each organisation to provide me with a comprehensive escalation policy detailing how they will respond to spikes in emergency department activity.
“I have continued to promote Northern Ireland as an international leader in connected health and innovation. We are working to have Northern Ireland granted EU reference site status through the European Innovation Partnership on Active and Health Ageing.
“The latest stage of the Transforming Your Care process ‘Vision to Action’ is being consulted on until the middle of January, and further important developments will then take place at local level. An explanatory leaflet is being distributed to every household in the province.
“I intend to launch a draft cross-Departmental autism strategy and action plan within the next ten days.
“And reflecting the importance of society’s role and responsibility for health, my Department is developing proposals for a community resuscitation strategy for Northern Ireland. I hope to say something more about this over the next couple of weeks. Much good but isolated work takes place on this front across the province, and a co-ordinated approach would offer everyone the opportunity to be a lifesaver.
“When I first came into this post, I was struck by just how many of the most important matters in health fall under the remit of 17 armslength bodies.
“Officials have been working on strengthening the process by which these bodies provide assurance to the Department and to me.
“I have asked officials to introduce a new more open and public-facing element into the annual accountability process. I can announce today that I will commence a series of Ministerial accountability meetings which I personally will lead and will be conducted in public.
“I will select a number of the 17 armslength bodies to undergo this extra component, each year.
“The format will vary for different bodies, but with trusts for example, I might visit one of their facilities and hold discussions with staff and service users. Then in public session I will engage with the Chair, Chief Executive and non-Executive Directors to seek assurance around areas such as corporate governance, quality and performance.
“This will represent a significant extension to existing practice.
“Since coming into office I have instituted quarterly meetings with the Chairs and Chief Executives of all six trusts, the Board and PHA collectively. I am also now going to commence more intensive meetings on an individual basis with the Chairs of a number of the armslength bodies.
“It is the Board of each ALB that is charged with ensuring that Ministerial/Departmental priorities and targets are delivered- and within each Board, the balance of that responsibility lies with the Chair and non-executive directors.
“Their roles are critical. I will be expecting much from them, and believe that the public have a right to do so as well.
“The people of Northern Ireland deserve the very best from their health service, both operationally and in terms of governance, and I will endeavour to make the system as accountable to them as possible.
“In closing, Mr Chairman, the challenges of health and care continue. This Party will not shirk away from them but tackle them head on. We have made much progress but a great deal more work lies ahead.”