 |
...your
local voice on health & social services ...
|
 |
Chairman's View Welcome to the latest Annual Review of the Northern Health and Social Services Council. As a colleague I pay tribute to the dedication and commitment of my predecessor Hugh Ewing. His sudden death came as a great shock. He will be sadly missed by all those who knew him. Our work has also been overshadowed by uncertainty about our future. The latest publication Developing Better Services proposes to match the functions of the four HSS Councils with whatever new structural arrangements are put in place.
|
|||
| While our views are now being sought by the DHSSPS on whether the Councils should be replaced by a single statutory health and social services consumer body in the event of a single regional authority, we maintain that there needs to be local representation and a local presence. Lengthening waiting lists, staff shortages, cancelled operations, delayed discharges, trolley waits and so on remain highly publicised areas. However, we must not forget the area of social care. Many of our residents are waiting for services such as speech and language therapy, physiotherapy, podiatry, items of equipment, etc. We acknowledge that professionals in the area of social care also work under considerable stress at times and that they too are concerned about the welfare of their patients. It is obvious that a greater annual budget is required if the servicing of needs is to improve. Our public representatives must also address the area of social care. We can only hope that the decisions taken on the eventual shape of the HPSS will tackle these issues and result in a higher quality service for our people. The 26th of May 2001 saw the beginning of a new era in hospital care for the people of the Causeway area. The first patients arrived in the new £55m Causeway Hospital putting the seal on many years of planning and hard work. Congratulations to all involved. It has been exciting to see the establishment of the Northern Neighbourhoods Health Action Zone, a community led partnership initiative aimed at improving the health and social well-being of people and communities in our area. It's great that regional and local agencies with responsibility for planning and delivering services are jointly implementing community action plans drawn up in consultation with local community groups. We wish those involved in the HAZ initiative every success. During the year we said farewell to several long serving members who had completed their term of office and with local Council elections in June 2001 we welcomed a sea of new faces. A huge thank you to all members, past and present and to staff for their continued commitment to our work in representing the interest of the public in all areas of health and social services.
JOE MCFADDEN CHAIRMAN |
||||
|
||||
