Committee for Health

Minutes of Proceedings - 20 November 2025

Committee for Health - Minutes of Proceedings - 20 November 2025.pdf (204.33 kb)

Meeting Location: Room 29, Parliament Buildings.

 

Present:

Phillip McGuigan MLA (Chairperson)

Danny Donnelly MLA (Deputy Chairperson)

Alan Chambers MLA

Linda Dillon MLA

Diane Dodds MLA

Órlaithí Flynn MLA

Nuala McAllister MLA

Colin McGrath MLA

Alan Robinson MLA.

 

Apologies: None

 

In Attendance:

Keith McBride, Clerk

Shannen Lofthouse, Assistant Clerk

Angela McParland, Assistant Clerk

Jonathan Lamont, Clerical Supervisor

Noel Gallagher, Clerical Officer

 

The meeting commenced at 2.00pm in public session.

 

1. Apologies

None

 

2. Chairperson's Business

None

 

3. Draft Minutes

The Committee agreed the draft Minutes of the meeting held on 13 November 2025.

 

4. Matters Arising

There were no Matters Arising.

 

5. Adult Protection Bill - Oral Briefing from the Commissioner for Older People

The following representatives joined the meeting at 2.02pm:

  • Siobhan Casey, Commissioner; and
  • Aimee Miller, Head of Legal & Advocacy.

The representatives briefed the Committee in relation to the Adult Protection Bill.

Alan Chambers MLA joined the meeting at 2.10pm.

The briefing was followed by a question and answer session.

The Chairperson thanked the representatives for their briefing.

 

6. Minister of Health on Shift Left Agenda - Oral Briefing

Minister Mike Nesbitt joined the meeting at 2.57pm along with Departmental officials:

  • Gearóid Cassidy, Director of Primary Care, Department of Health; and
  • Professor Cathy Harrison, Chief Pharmaceutical Officer, Department of Health.

The Minister briefed the Committee with an overview of the Shift Left agenda.

Colin McGrath MLA joined the meeting at 2.58pm.

The briefing was followed by a question and answer session.

The Chairperson thanked both the Minister and officials for the briefing.

The Committee considered correspondence from Independent Health and Care Providers on the recent announcement by the Health Minister that the pay offer for healthcare workers did not include a direction to provide the Real Living Wage.

Agreed: The Committee agreed to forward the correspondence to the Department for comment.

The Committee considered waiting lists for occupational therapy, and noted that a key component of Shift Left is investment in the Allied Health Professional (AHP) workforce.

Agreed: The Committee agreed to receive a breakdown of investment in, and steps being taken to build, the different AHP workforce roles for community-based care.

Agreed: The Committee agreed to seek clarity on how the figure of £25m has been reached in relation to ensuring HSC workers receive the Real Living Wage.

Agreed: The Committee agreed to request confirmation of when it will receive a summary of responses on the Hospital Network Consultation. The Committee had expected the Department would know the outcome of this in September 2025.

Agreed: The Committee agreed to request a timeline of integration of primary care into Encompass for proper communication in the HSC system for Shift Left, data collection, and to assist in clear and correct patient pathways.

 

7. The New Management of Violence and Aggression in with Workplace Framework - Oral Briefing

The following officials joined the meeting at 4.44pm:

  • Seamus Mullan, Director of Performance and Planning, NIAS;
  • John Doherty, Assistant Director of Mental Health, Western Trust;
  • Brona Shaw, Deputy Director of Nursing, Belfast Trust;
  • Jon McGall, Director of Mental Health, Southern Trust; and
  • Suzanne Pullins, Interim Chief Executive, Northern Trust.

The officials briefed the Committee in relation to The New Management of Violence and Aggression in with Workplace Framework.

The briefing was followed by a question and answer session.

The Chairperson thanked the officials for their briefing.

The Committee discussed with officials the importance of Trusts ensuring staff are supported emotionally in instances covered by the framework.

Agreed: The Committee agreed to request further information on data collated in formal assessments with staff relevant to this, i.e. the emotional effect on staff.

Agreed: The Committee agreed to receive further information on how the framework will deal with capturing data on details of violence and aggression instances against staff, with the aim of learning context and incident details in order to inform training and support needs for staff and patient safety.

Nuala McAllister MLA left the meeting at 5.20pm.

 

8. Homecare Services- Written Briefing from the Department.

Agreed: The Committee agreed to defer the written briefing until next week's meeting.

 

9. Correspondence

Agreed: The Committee agreed to defer correspondence consideration until next week's meeting.

 

10. Forward Work Programme

Agreed: The Committee agreed to defer forward work programme discussions until next week's meeting.

 

11. Any Other Business

There was no other business.

 

12. Date, Time and Place of the next meeting

The next meeting of the Committee was scheduled to take place in the Boardroom at the South West Acute Hospital at 2pm on 27 November.

The meeting was adjourned at 5.39pm.

 

Phillip McGuigan MLA

Chairperson, Committee for Health

27 November 2025