Health Minister Meets Scottish Counterpart

As the new Health Minister continues to grapple with the issues of the Northern Ireland health service, many people across Down are awaiting his decision on what direction accident and emergency care is to take across the hospitals in Belfast, Lagan Valley, Daisy Hill, and at the Downe in Downpatrick. He has already made a commitment there there will be change and some of his decisions may not be popular. [caption id="attachment_25677" align="alignleft" width="400" caption="The Health MInister Edwin Poots is reviewing the delivery of A&E care in Northern Ireland. "][/caption] As the Minister gathers his information to make an informed decision, local Down politicians and health campaigners may view this as the calm before the storm, others, the dawn of a new day. Is It Time Up For Cheap Alcohol? Health Minister Edwin Poots was also very keen to discuss Scotland’s progress on minimum unit pricing for alcohol. The Minister said, xa0“This is an area where I have great concern and it is a significant issue for both Northern Ireland and Scotland. Scotland is more advanced than Northern Ireland in relation to their proposals for minimum unit pricing for alcohol and I have been watching the progress of these proposals with interest. “The cost of alcohol misuse to Northern Ireland could be as high as £670million, with £122million of that coming directly out of the health service budget. This is a significant pot of money which clearly could be better spent on frontline services within the community. “In Northern Ireland, we have already taken a range of measures to address misuse of alcohol, but one area which I think could make a real difference is that of pricing.” The Minister added, “My Department and the Department of Social Development launched a public consultation on the issue which closed on 26 June 2011. We are currently analysing the consultation responses and once that is complete, it is hoped that an options paper will be presented to the Assembly at the beginning of the new term.”]]>