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Joint Ministerial Committee on Health
In Glasgow today, the Prime Minister chaired a meeting of the Joint Ministerial Committee on health, bringing together health ministers from all parts of the United Kingdom. This follows from 2 earlier meetings in Cardiff on 7 April and London on 5 June.
The Prime Minister said:-
“The National Health Service is a devolved responsibility. That means the administrations are able to develop detailed policies to address particular needs in each area.
“But the basic expectation of patients and of the public are exactly the same, wherever they live. They want a health service which meets their needs, which is more responsive to their demands, and which delivers first class care.
“All of the administrations are delivering policies to meet these needs. And the largest ever real-terms increase in NHS funding announced in March’s budget is helping us all address problems which have been preventing further progress.
“Scotland has an unenviable reputation for premature death from its levels of cancer and heart disease. But the Scottish Executive is also developing some of the most innovative projects in Europe to combat the root causes. The experience which Susan Deacon has described will be of great benefit to other administrations in addressing their own problems in these areas.
“The series of meetings has provided an invaluable opportunity to hear new ideas from across the different parts of the UK. It has helped us address the significant winter pressures which face the health service every year. It has allowed us to look forward to the advantages which increased use of tele-medicine and other modern technologies can bring. And it has reinforced the importance of working in partnership to develop the new NHS. Working with health service staff will help us identify the best and most effective solutions to the problems we all face.
“That is one of the intended strengths of devolution. None of the administrations has a monopoly of wisdom, in health or in any other area. We can and must learn from each other.”
Partnership and Prevention
At the meeting, Ministers discussed 2 papers presented by the Scottish Executive on partnership and prevention.
All groups involved in the Health Service have to be actively involved in its reform - patients, the public, health service staff and NHS management. This approach offers the best prospect of reaching soundly based decisions which will achieve sustainable improvements. The other administrations agreed that Scottish experience of engaging local communities about service change was valuable in the wider context of NHS reform.
The Scottish Executive also presented a paper on their experience of preventative policies, focusing on the key areas of cancer and coronary heart disease. Scotland is not alone in suffering these problems - Northern Ireland, Wales and many parts of England have similar levels of preventable illness. Health Ministers in the different administrations have each been developing policies and initiatives to combat the human and financial costs that result.
The Scottish Executive is now developing four major national demonstration projects in the areas of: children’s health; teenage sexual health; cancer, and heart disease. These will provide a test bed for action and act as models for the rest of Scotland to show how health can be improved by taking innovative approaches.
Tele-medicine
Following from an initial discussion in Cardiff on 7 April, Jane Hutt, Assembly Secretary for Health in the National Assembly for Wales tabled a paper on the major improvements which can be made to health care through modern technology.
Increased use of IT can help address some of the most profound problems facing health services today especially inequalities in access to health care. It can help maintain a high quality of patient care in rural and urban areas. It can reduce the inconvenience and costs of which patients and doctors face in travelling to appointments. And it can help nurses to work in the communities they serve, while still being given adequate supervision. The meeting agreed that a further paper should be prepared on the benefits that the full range of modern technologies can bring to patients.
The National Assembly for Wales is investing in a pioneering eye care development programme which includes a tele-medicine project for screening diabetes patients in the South Wales valleys. This is being evaluated for roll out in the rest of Wales.
Background Note
1. The role of the Joint Ministerial Committee (JMC) is set out in an annex to the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) which was agreed between the UK Government, the Cabinet of the National Assembly for Wales and the Scottish Executive in October 1999. The texts are being debated in the Northern Ireland Assembly today. The MoU, which are available at www.cabinet-office.gov.uk/cabsec/1999/memorandum/index.htm, were presented to Parliament as Command Paper 4444.
2. The JMC meets in a number of functional forms. The Health Committee is chaired by the Prime Minister. The following also attended the meeting:-
UK Government
Alan Milburn, Secretary of State for Health
Andrew Smith, Chief Secretary to the Treasury
John Reid, Secretary of State for Scotland
Paul Murphy, Secretary of State for Wales
George Howarth, Parliamentary Under Secretary, Northern Ireland Office
Scottish Executive
Jim Wallace, Deputy First Minister
Susan Deacon, Minister for Health
Northern Ireland Executive Committee
David Trimble, First Minister
Bairbre de Brún, Minister for Health, Social Services and Public Safety
National Assembly for Wales
Rhodri Morgan, First Secretary
Jane Hutt, Assembly Secretary for Health
3. Other Joint Ministerial Committees have been created on the Knowledge Economy and Poverty, to allow the administrations to exchange information and best practice in these areas. These committees are chaired by the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
4. Less formal meetings of Ministers also take place to discuss issues of common interest and concern, eg on agriculture, housing, the environment.
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