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  • 5 months ago
Health Minister Mike Nesbitt opens the Sense hub in Belfast for adults and children with multiple disabilities, stepping in after the Princess Royal was waylaid by bad weather affecting her travel. Video by Iain Gray.
Transcript
00:00I've never had to stand in for the Princess Royal before but we are very
00:07pleased to do so so this is just a wonderful facility and just walking
00:14around I was I was thinking about what I consider to be the miracle of that
00:19great agreement Belfast Good Friday whatever way you want to call it back in
00:221998 and at the core of what we agreed was that we were going to build a new
00:28truly inclusive society and the days when people who needed a little help
00:35maybe with their communication or with understanding or getting information
00:40problems with fulfilling day-to-day life well we moved to the edge of society are
00:47long gone they're going to be part of the community and this fantastic facility is
00:53right here in the heart of the community in South Belfast and I think
00:58it's wonderful and I've walked around and I've been so so moved by what I've seen
01:03I'm in the really privileged position as Minister of Health because I have the
01:09opportunity to set a new direction of travel for how we deliver health and
01:13social care and it's about shifting left into the community and by early next year
01:21we will have ruled out what we're calling a neighborhood system of care and that's
01:27going to play exactly into your hands and hopefully that will involve some
01:33funding because I understand that this has been built without a penny of
01:37government money which in its own right is a truly remarkable achievement but the
01:42voluntary community sector has such a role to play if we're going to deliver health and
01:47social care better than we do it at the moment with prevention and early
01:52intervention as our key words so thank you very much I spend a couple of days a
01:58week behind a desk doing paperwork and having internal meetings and listening to
02:02two professionals it's only when it comes to me like this that it's real and I
02:07understand the opportunities and the privilege that I have so thank you very
02:11much
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