"Ladies and Gentlemen, the DUP is the party defending the NHS in Northern Ireland. In government it has been our party that has put the delivery of essential public services including health at the top of the political agenda. Whilst other parties rush to embrace massive cuts that will destroy our health service, people know that in the DUP, the NHS has a champion. Largesse from Tory HQ will not force us to support huge cuts in the health service.

In the Northern Ireland budget, the DUP Finance Minister allocated the Department of Health almost 50% of all available resources – that is the highest budgetary allocation given to the department in the entire history of the Northern Ireland state. We recognised that creating a healthy, strong community was an essential component of building a better Northern Ireland.
The DUP is proud of our long-standing history of financial prudence. We have a proven track record of delivering the best public services for the lowest possible cost. Our performance in local government shows that to be the case. We want to see the largest ever budgetary allocation to the Department of Health delivering the biggest return for local people who use the NHS.
There is excess fat in the system, that if cut out can maximise front line service delivery for patients. I want to see that money being spent on patients. Anyone who claims that efficiency savings cannot be found in that situation is either financially illiterate or attempting to mislead. Or in some cases both.

Our party is the party of reform. We have a positive reforming agenda which is designed to ensure the best value for money return on investment in our public services. It is unfortunate that others inside the Assembly are acting as roadblocks to reform. I am referring of course to Michael McGimpsey – a man blessed with more faces than the Albert Clock – and none of them smiling!
Here we have a man who for all his life claimed affinity to old-left Labour Party style politics. Indeed Mr. McGimpsey was an active member of the Unionist Labour Group. He feigns concern about our public services and barely a week goes by without him popping up on our TV screens demanding more and more money. Only a few weeks ago, he was down at a Trade Union rally demanding more money for public services. I wonder did he sing “The Red Flag”?

Mr. McGimpsey is clearly not without a sense of irony. Perhaps it has escaped his notice that his party has become a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Tories. The Tory Party that has said it will impose a minimum of 10% cuts to the Northern Ireland block grant. That means 10% less for health care, 10% less for fire fighters, 10% less for doctors, nurses and hospital building projects. The DUP believes in efficiencies, Mr. McGimpsey’s Tory bosses believe in slash-and-burn. He can no longer ride two horses on this issue. Whose side is he on, our public services or the UUP’s Tory paymasters?

One area where little progress has been made by the Department is mental health. The Bamford Review of Mental Health and Learning Disability commenced in 2002. Its ten expert committees produced extensive reports including 704 recommendations. However the response from the Minister for Health has been very disappointing with many recommendations of the Bamford Report simply ignored, rendering much of the hard work pointless.

Despite much rhetoric, the UUP Minister has not prioritised mental health and allocated it merely a fraction of the massive extra spending on health. Only 5% of his overall budget is being directed to this key area.

The Department is committed to a strategy emphasizing that “home-based treatment and care will be the norm”. However the shift in emphasis away from the acute hospital sector to primary and community care requires a fundamental overhaul of mental health services. Little action has been taken thus far to prepare for or implement such significant change.

There are so many areas where improvements in mental health provision can be made. Earlier in the year we published policy proposals in a document called ‘Improving Northern Ireland’s Mental Health’. This identified the key areas where progress was required.

The Democratic Unionist Party wants the emphasis to be on the promotion of good mental health, and the importance of factors such as education, employment and leisure.

In this session, you will hear about the strenuous efforts that our party has undertaken to ensure that Northern Ireland has a health service that is fit for purpose in the 21st century. The DUP believes in our public services and will fight to protect them. We make no apology for doing so. Unlike others, this party can be trusted with the NHS."

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