Call for council to restart health body

Call for council to restart health body

1 January 2013

A LOCAL politician wants Down Council to consider reforming its Health Committee.

A reorganisation of the local authority’s committee structure resulted in the work of the Health Committee being subsumed into the Corporate Services Committee last year.

But Councillor Walter Lyons believes health and social service issues are so important in Down District that there should be a dedicated committee to oversee them.

He wants councillors to consider reforming a dedicated health committee at their annual meeting next June.

Councillor Lyons believes that given the ongoing debate about the future of health and social care services in Northern Ireland, Down Council should have a committee focusing on health issues.

He said major plans to set the direction of health and social care across the Province issued for public consultation late last year and will have an impact locally.

“The proposals focus on reshaping services in order to make best use of all available resources, ensuring that the services which are provided are safe, resilient and sustainable into the future,” he explained.

A public meeting to discuss proposals in the so-called Transforming Your Care document was held in Downpatrick last November and was attended by service users, carers, political, community, voluntary and union representatives, as well as health service staff.

Councillor Lyons said while decisions on the future direction of travel for health and social services have not yet been implemented, it is important local politicians focus on the issues at hand.

He added: “There is a lot to consider in the Transforming Your Care document which includes proposals for respite care, learning disability and mental health services, carers support, integrated care partnerships, staffing pressures and residential care.

“We need to keep a sharp focus on all these and I believe a dedicated committee solely responsible for health matters could do this.”