Speaking out on your behalf

Raising issues on your behalf continued during the year with members and staff taking every opportunity to meet with those who plan, manage and deliver services. Where problems arose early solutions to these were sought. Problem areas included:

Breast Screening Services at Antrim Hospital
Invitations are issued to women aged 50-64 to attend a breast screening session every three years so when this service was suspended in the Northern Board area in October 2005 and a number of women were recalled to Antrim Hospital for a breast screening reassessment NHSSC obviously voiced concern.
The publication of the Review of the Northern Ireland Breast Screening Programme by The Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority added to our concerns as it identified grave concerns relating to professional competence, selection and recruitment processes, non-adherence to the NHS Breast Screening Programme Guidelines and to failures of management at the most senior level.
In a press statement our Chairman, Tom Creighton commented

We recognise that there is a chronic UK-wide shortage of radiologists, however, during the period of suspension we continued to highlight the fact that women in the northern area were being disadvantaged and to raise our concerns that early detection opportunities were being lost with diagnosis being missed or delayed until symptoms develop. Assurances were sought from the Northern Health and Social Services Board that the service be reinstated as soon as possible and we welcomed the initiatives put in place which enabled the recommencement of the breast screening programme on Monday 31 July 2006. The Council continues to monitor the situation.

Treatment Room Services
Many of you will have been seen by Treatment Room staff in your local health centre yet during the year there existed a deepening staffing and funding crisis within treatment room services. Due to the importance of treatment room services in primary care we carefully listened to the complications and difficulties and continued to monitor the situation by seeking regular updates.
An announcement by the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety of additional funding which would be used to compensate those practices where hours had been reduced and allow extra time to work with General Practitioners towards longer term arrangements was welcomed.

NHS Dentistry
Following several complaints to the office it became apparent that some people were experiencing a difficulty in getting registered with an NHS dentist. An investigation into the situation found that some dentists were closing their lists to new health service patients and others were encouraging patients to join private schemes. It also became apparent that there is no obligation on general dental practitioners to accept a patient for health service treatment and current contractual arrangements do not permit Boards to compel practitioners to provide general dental services. The dentist’s independent contractor status and the fact their equipment and premises are not owned by the Health Service enable them to move readily into private healthcare.

We joined forces with the other three Health and Social Services Councils to raise our concerns directly with the then Minister for Health, Paul Goggins. These included:

	Northern Ireland traditionally has had a poor track record in terms of children’s dental health. This is beginning to improve but lack of access to NHS Dental services will be a further barrier to better dental health.
	Access to an NHS dentist in Northern Ireland has been very good until the past year. However, there is now clear evidence that dental practitioners are leaving the NHS. If the situation deteriorates much further, many communities will be left without access to the service. This is likely to disproportionately affect rural and disadvantaged communities.
	Pressure is increasing on emergency dental services. The current infrastructure is unlikely to be able to manage this increased and inappropriate demand.
	The process for the development of the new dental contract has been painfully slow in Northern Ireland. The English experience of the new contract is not instilling our dentists with confidence and is, we believe, exacerbating the loss of dentists to the NHS. There needs to be movement on the new contract for NI including an imaginative approach that learns the lessons from England and explores the innovative approach that Scotland has used.
	The current system is confusing for patients and cumbersome for dentists and needs to be urgently reformed by a new contract that meets the needs of all stakeholders.

The Minister assured Councils that the Primary Dental Care Strategy aims to modernise dental services and ensure that everyone has access to high quality, effective dental care and that the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety was fully committed to securing a robust and accessible health service dental service.

Health and Social Services Councils will continue to monitor the situation with a joint Council event in May 2007 when further discussion will take place.