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Monthly Archives: September 2018
Revealed: Urgent health decisions held up due to lack of Northern Ireland government
An MLA has warned problems will become worse in the health service if action is not taken. By Jonathan Bell September 13 2018 Northern Ireland health care reform, action on ensuring the NHS lives within its budget and a pay award for staff are among the 19 items requiring a health minister, it has been revealed. Ulster Unionist MLA Roy Beggs revealed the scale of the logjam within the Department of Health due to the lack of a functioning Executive after a Freedom of Information request. However he said it would just be the tip of the iceberg given the mounting problems in the health service. “It is scandalous that within the Department of Health alone there are so many pieces of legislation and key strategies stalled due to there not being a minister in place to sign them off,” he said. Northern Ireland has been without a government after … Continue reading
Beggs welcomes changes to cancer drugs funding
Ulster Unionist Health Spokesperson, Roy Beggs MLA, has welcomed the announcement that cancer patients here are to have the same access to drugs currently being offered to people in the rest of the UK. Roy Beggs said: “It was simply immoral that people living here have not been able to avail of many of the life extending cancer drugs that were available and widely prescribed in the rest of the UK. “It was a post code lottery and unfortunately Northern Ireland was on the losing side for far too long. “Whilst sadly the number of people being diagnosed with cancer is increasing year on year, so too are the advancements in drugs that can help cure or at least extend patients’ lives. “It is disappointing that the announcement has taken so long, especially as the consultation ended over three years ago, but for patients moving forward at long last some degree of … Continue reading
Beggs calls for implementation of latest bowel cancer screening programme
Ulster Unionist Party Health Spokesperson Roy Beggs MLA has contacted the Department of Health Permanent Secretary Richard Pengelly highlighting that Northern Ireland has fallen behind the rest of the United Kingdom by failing, as of yet, to introduce the latest bowel cancer screening technique, Faecal Immunochemical Testing. East Antrim MLA Roy Beggs said “I am concerned that Northern Ireland has not yet implemented the latest approved bowel cancer screening technique, Faecal Immunochemical Test (FIT). Scotland introduced FIT for 50-74 from November 2017; England is due to roll out the test by the end of this year and Wales from January 2019. ” Both Wales and England have recently committed to begin screening from 50 in line with international best practise. Roy Beggs MLA continued, “More than 1,100 people are diagnosed with Bowel Cancer every year, and it is Northern Ireland’s second biggest cancer killer. I am concerned that Bowel Cancer … Continue reading
Sewerage system at full capacity is impacting on new Larne homes – Beggs
East Antrim Ulster Unionist Party Roy Beggs MLA has recently met with the Permanent Secretary for the Dept for Infrastructure and NI Water officials and received confirmation that that the Larne Sewerage Waste Water Treatment site is a full capacity, adding significant costs to building a home in a new development in Larne. Roy Beggs MLA said, “At a recent meeting with the Permanent Secretary, the Department for Infrastructure and NI Water officials confirmed that the existing public sewerage within the catchment area of Larne Waste Water Treatment is operating above the design capacity and NI Water will not be permitting new sewerage connection with addition sewerage loading. I am surprised that the relatively new Larne treatment works has reached full capacity already. This decision will add significantly to the cost of building new homes in Larne as new developments would have to build their own private Waste Water Treatment … Continue reading
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MLA’s call to ‘highlight benefits of breastfeeding’
More needs to be done to highlight the benefits of breastfeeding to expectant mothers, East Antrim MLA and UUP health spokesperson Roy Beggs has said. Mr Beggs was speaking during was the recent Breastival event in Belfast, organised to celebrate World Breastfeeding Week. “The World Health Organisation (WHO) have expressed concern at the low rates of breastfeeding in Europe which was adversely affecting health,” he said. “There seems to be a societal lack of awareness that breastfeeding has been scientifically proven to benefit both the mother and child. As well as increasing bonding between mother and child, breastmilk contains important antibodies, hormones, anti-viruses, anti-allergies, anti-parasites, growth factors and enzymes which are absent from formula milk. “Benefits for breastfed infants include reduced risk of infections, obesity, cardiovascular disease and diabetes, in addition to a reduced likelihood of allergies. It is important that we as a society try to encourage and support … Continue reading
