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With effect from 1st April 2009 the responsibilities of the Western Health and Social Services Council have transferred to the new Patient Client Council. This website will continue to be available for a short period as part of the transitional arrangements but please refer to the new organisation web site for up to date information www.patientclientcouncil.hscni.net During this time the existing contact details will remain.

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WHSSC NEWS

Minutes of whssc meetings are available on the website Click here to read

Patient Client Council Appointments

The Minister has announced the Chair (Designate) and Chief Executive (Designate) of the new Health and Social care organisations.

Patient Client Council:

Chair (Designate) - Mr John Keanie MBA - Read the full Press release below

Chief Executive (Designate) - Ms Maeve Hully - Read the full Press release below

Minister announces locations for new HSC organisations - Read the full Press release below

Chair (Designate) - Mr John Keanie MBA

Health Minister Michael McGimpsey has announced the Chairs (Designate) of the four new HSC organisations.  The appointments are as follows:-

Dr Ian Clements - Regional Health and Social Care Board;

Ms Mary McMahon - Regional Agency for Public Health and Social Well-being;

Mr Alexander Coleman - Regional Business Services Organisation;

Mr John Keanie - Patient and Client Council.

APPOINTMENTS

Dr Ian Clements MB BCh DRCOG MRCGP lives in Newtownards where he has practised as a GP Principal for the past 27 years. Throughout his GP career, he has continually sought to improve healthcare services for patients through his involvement in the commissioning process having been appointed the Clinical Lead Commissioner in the East Local Commissioning Group at its inception; he will now be stepping down from this position. He is currently Chair of the Eastern Local Medical Committee and member of the NI General Practitioners Committee. Previous posts include Chair of the Eastern Multifund, Chair of the Eastern Health and Social Services Board GP Forum, executive committee member of both the National Association of Primary Care and NI Association for Mental Health and GP Medical Advisor to the former Ulster and Community Hospitals Trust. He holds no other public appointments and has not engaged in any political activity in the last five years.

Mr Alexander Coleman LLB LLM, lives in Comber. He is a partner in a firm of solicitors in Belfast, with a particular interest in town planning. He is currently a non-executive member of the Eastern Health and Social Services (HSS) Board for which he receives £5,730 per annum and has been a Lay Member of the Eastern HSS Board Independent Review Panels, reporting on non-clinical complaints. Mr Coleman was solicitor to the Department's Human Organs Enquiry and Chair of the local branch of the Royal Town Planning Institute in 2001. He has not engaged in any political activity in the last five years.

Mr John Keanie MBA, lives in Coleraine. Mr Keanie is a self employed business Consultant and also Company Chair of A2B (Access to Benefits for Older People). He was previously employed as Town Clerk and Chief Executive of Derry City Council. Mr Keanie is a Lay Representative on the QC Complaints Committee of the Silk Appointments Commission for which he receives £297 per day and expenses. He is currently appointed, by the Commissioner for Public Appointments, NI, to act as an independent assessor for Public Appointments to government bodies. In 1997 he was made Freeman of the City of London for work done with "The Hon the Irish Society" in Community projects in Co Derry/Londonderry. He has not engaged in any political activity in the last five years.

Ms Mary McMahon MSSc BA, lives in Annsborough, Co Down. Since June 2002, she has been a self-employed Social Policy Researcher and was previously co-ordinator with the Belfast Traveller Support Group from 1996 to May 2002. Ms McMahon is currently a member of Amnesty International (Mid-Down branch), a member of the Committee on the Administration of Justice and also of UNICEF. She is a Belfast Harbour Commissioner for which she receives £10,150 per annum and a member of the Research Ethics Committee for which she receives expenses only. Ms McMahon declared that she had engaged in some political activity as Secretary of the NI Labour Forum, the NI Branch of the Labour Party.

CHIEF EXECUTIVES OF NEW HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE ORGANISATIONS ANNOUNCED

Health Minister, Michael McGimpsey has announced the appointment of the Chief Executives (Designate) who will lead the four new Health and Social Care (HSC) organisations.

They are:-

· John Compton - Regional Health and Social Care Board

· Dr Eddie Rooney – Regional Agency for Public Health and Social Well-being

· Maeve Hully – Patient and Client Council

· David Bingham – Regional Business Services Organisation.

They will each take up their appointment as soon as possible in the New Year.

The Minister said: “I congratulate each of the new Chief Executives on their appointment and wish them every success in their new role. They each have an integral role to play in what is a very important phase for the future of health and social care.

“Our system faces increasing demands from a growing and ever-changing population who rightly expect services to be responsive, safe, effective and efficient. I believe the new structures will equip our service with the infrastructure needed to tackle the challenges we face, with the new Chief Executives, along with the Chairs, being central in driving forward the modernisation of health and social care.

“In particular, their role in helping to engage our population in their own health will be vital as we aim to improve the health and well-being of our society and offer everyone an equal chance for a healthy life.”

“The appointments I am announcing today are another milestone in the establishment of the new organisations.”

1. Biographies for the new Chief Executives are as follows:-

John Compton – Chief Executive (designate) Regional Health and Social Care Board

John has been Chief Executive of the South Eastern Trust from its inception in April 2006. Prior to that, he was Chief Executive of the Down Lisburn Trust from 2001. During this time at Down Lisburn, he was seconded as Chief Executive in the West of the province in the then Sperrin Lakeland Trust for over a year. He trained as a Social Worker and was educated at Queens University Belfast and the University of Ulster. He also has spent time at the Federal Executive Institute in the USA. John has three married daughters and is a keen jogger and marathon participant.


David Bingham – Chief Executive (designate) Regional Business Services Organisation

David joined the Health Service as a National Administrative Trainee in 1976. He worked in Personnel before leaving for a two -year stint in the motor manufacturing industry. On his return to the Health Service he worked as Director of Human Resources in the Eastern Health and Social Services Board for 4 years. In 1993 he left to set up the Beeches Management Centre, a training, development and consultancy organisation for Trusts and Commissioners in Northern Ireland. He was appointed to his current job in the Department of Health in September 2000 as Director of HPSS Human Resources.

Dr Eddie Rooney – Chief Executive (designate) Regional Agency for Public Health and Social Well-being.

Dr Eddie Rooney joined the Northern Ireland Civil Service in 1985 as a statistician/social researcher in the Department of Education. In 1994, he moved to the Department of Health and Social Services to head Health Promotion Policy Branch and was secretary to the Ministerial Group in Public Health. On appointment to the Senior Civil Service, he was posted to the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure as head of policy and research in the newly formed Department. In 2003, he was appointed Deputy Secretary in the Department of Education where his responsibilities included leading policy on the Review of Public Administration. Dr Rooney has extensive experience in working on inter-departmental policy and chaired the Fit Futures taskforce on childhood obesity which reported in 2007. He transferred to the Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister as Equality Director in 2008.


Maeve Hully - Chief Executive (designate) Patient and Client Council

Maeve Hully has been working for Marie Curie Cancer Care since 1993. Since 2006 she has had a national role within the Charity for Patient Advocacy which has shaped the way the organisation engages and involves patients and families in service planning and delivery. Maeve is a Registered Nurse with over 15 years experience working in palliative care. Prior to her current position Maeve worked as a Health Visitor and a Community Paediatric Nurse.

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, SOCIAL SERVICES AND PUBLIC SAFETY
PRESS RELEASE - 4 February 2009

HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE JOBS REMAIN LOCATED THROUGHOUT NORTHERN IRELAND

Health Minister Michael McGimpsey has today outlined the locations of the four new Health and Social Care (HSC) organisations. The decisions fulfil the Minister's commitment to implementing the reforms to ensure a significant local presence of HSC jobs regardless of their headquarter function. They also maximise the use of current HSC accommodation. The key decisions from April 2009 are as follows:

· The Health and Social Care Board headquarters will be in the current Eastern Health and Social Services Board building in Linenhall Street, Belfast.

· The Public Health Agency headquarters will be based in Stoney Road, Dundonald until March 2010, with other Belfast based agency staff, such as the Health Promotion Agency, remaining in their current locations. Work will start immediately on a longer term solution for the agency which is intended to be in an area that will reflect its role in addressing health inequalities.

· Both the HSC Board and the Public Health Agency headquarters will be supported by four co-located Commissioning Support Units in the existing locations of Londonderry, Armagh, Ballymena and Belfast.

· The Business Services Organisation (BSO) headquarters will be located on an interim basis at the Central Services Agency (CSA) headquarters in Franklin Street, Belfast. It is anticipated that those staff who will be part of the BSO, who are not currently based in the CSA, will remain in their current location, including those based in Londonderry.

· The BSO will undertake a further comprehensive option appraisal to determine the location and accommodation for the shared services centres. The exercise will also determine the permanent headquarters of the BSO which will be sited outside Belfast.

· The Patient and Client Council headquarters will be in Antrim. The five local offices will be in the four existing locations of Broughshane, Belfast, Lurgan and Omagh. The new local office for the south eastern area will be located in Newtownards.

These arrangements will mean that at least 80% of staff will remain in their current location. Making the announcement, the Minister said: “The location of the new organisations has understandably been a matter of great concern for staff. I have however consistently given my assurance that regardless of the headquarter function, each organisation will have a strong local presence and I am now delivering on this. Health and Social Care has a proud tradition of job dispersal right across Northern Ireland and that will continue.

Outlining the rationale for the location decisions, the Minster continued: “Both the HSC Board and the Public Health Agency will have a significant regional remit that will require them to work closely with each other, as well as with my department. Locating their headquarters in Belfast facilitates this interrelationship and means that each has ready access to one another.

“These headquarters will however only involve a relatively small number of staff from each organisation, with the majority being based in local support units in their current locations. The HSC Board and Public Health Agency staff will be co-located throughout Northern Ireland, working with local communities to be responsive to their needs, as well as delivering real and sustained improvements in their health and well-being and reducing health inequalities.”

The Patient and Client Council headquarters will be in Antrim, with five local locations to reflect its role in representing the views of patients, clients and carers across Northern Ireland. The local offices are based in the same geographical areas as the HSC Trusts.

Turning to the Business Services Organisation, the Minister continued: “The Business Services Organisation will provide a range of important support services that are vital to the success of the health and social care system and will deliver real value for money. Although the permanent location of the headquarters has not been determined, I can confirm that it will not be in Belfast. The Minister concluded: “Minimising disruption to staff has of course been high on the agenda when determining locations and in the main, the majority of staff will remain where they are. There will of course be a some staff who could potentially be affected and in these instances all reasonable steps will be taken to reduce the impact.” The Minister will also engage with Executive colleagues in response to the recommendations of the Bain Review. Given that the process will inevitably take some time, it was imperative that the department continued with its work, in line with current guidance, to determine the location of the new health and social care bodies that will be established on 1 April 2009.

Western Health Council reports "considerable improvements" following repeat Bugwatch survey at Altnagelvin.

Click here to read report

Survey Of Dental Practices In Western Board Area
April/May 2008February 2008
The WHSSC carried out a survey of Dental Practices in the Western Board area in April 2008 and the survey was repeated in May 2008. Click here for the results of the survey.

The WHSSC welcomes the launch of an information booklet 'Health and Social Care In Northern Ireland'
It provides key information about health services and is available in English and thirteen other languages.
Click here to access the booklet.

Western Health and Social Services Council
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Tyrone and Fermanagh Hospital
Omagh
Co Tyrone
BT79 0NS
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