Committee chair Colm Gildernew asks the panel when they think all of the recommendations, particularly those which won't need to be legislated for, will be implemented.

Conrad Kirwood says that "by September, 60 of the recommendation will be implemented".

Image source, NI Assembly

He adds that it's "difficult to be precise" about an end date as "it's really a recommendation by recommendation basis" with a phase-in effect across trusts.

Mr Kirkwood adds that the department has divided the 96 recommendations into 120 actions "so that we can work through them in the sub-groups".

Colm Gildernew asks about a proposed review of the health regulatory system.

The Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority (RQIA is responsible for inspecting the availability and quality of health and social care services in Northern Ireland.

Donna Ruddy (below) says it was decided there was a need for fundamental review of regulation to bring it back to first principles.

Image source, NI Assembly

She says the questions to be addressed included, "why do we regulate?" and "who would be within the scope of regulation?".

Ms Ruddy says people were surprised that the regulation did not cover primary care services, community trust services and acute hospitals.

She says the department hopes to put the first phase policy out to public consultation by June.

In his opening remarks, Conrad Kirkwood says the recommendations take into account a "full range of services and ages" and when thinking about implementation they have "tried to expand scope to think in those terms".

He adds that "how we implement recommendations, for us, is as important as the recommendations themselves".

Image source, NI Assembly

Mr Kirkwood says that Justice O'Hara put candour "first in his report" - it was one of the 96 recommendations from the inquiry into hyponatraemia-related deaths.

"We aim to provide proposals to the minister later this month and subject to his approval, and perhaps executive, approval will go out to consultation on those proposals," he says.

"And there will be plenty of opportunity to continue to engage on the duty of candour and to tell us what people think in relation to the proposals."

The hyponatraemia inquiry was first announced in 2004, following a TV documentary about the deaths of three children in Northern Ireland hospitals.

They died in separate incidents, but the programme alleged all three deaths - those of Lucy Crawford, Raychel Ferguson and Adam Strain - were a result of mistakes by staff as they administered intravenous fluids.

By 2008, the inquiry was extended to examine the cases of two more children - Claire Roberts and Conor Mitchell - who died while receiving hospital care.

The final report was published in 2018.

It was heavily critical of the "self-regulating and unmonitored" health service.

All five children died at the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children (RBHSC) between 1995 and 2003.

Hyponatraemia is a shortage of sodium in the blood that can be fatal.

You can see a time line of the hyponatraemia inquiry here.

Image source, NI Assembly

Following a short break, the committee chair welcomes officials from the Department of Health to brief them on recommendations made in the O'Hara Report into hyponatraemia related deaths.

The representatives include Donna Ruddy (left), chair of the RQIA remit subgroup, Conrad Kirkwood (centre) Chair of the SAI workstream and David Best (right) from the death certification work stream.

The committee has taken a short break - but the MLAs will be back in their seats at 12:00.

Image source, NI Assembly

The UUP's Alan Chambers (below) is concerned that private care homes could be cutting corners in standards of care in order to enhance profits.

Sean Holland says the regulatory standards are the same regardless of the providers - whether they are private or public.

Image source, NI Assembly

He says that from personal experience of relatives who have been in both types of home: "I couldn't says statutory good, private bad."

The SDLP's Sinead Bradley says a number of her constituents have found "continual confusion on pathways from health care to social care" and vice versa, and asks what the department is doing to help people understand.

Mr Holland responds by accepting that there is a "need for us to be more explicit and transparent about what is available and what you can expect".

Image source, NI Assembly

When it comes to moving from social care to palliative care, Mr Holland says the "line between social and health care gets blurred".

"We have different funding arrangements," he says, "there needs to be more work done on that".

The Northern Ireland Secretary of State, Brandon Lewis, says he'll be working "urgently" with the secretary of state for transport as well as the NI Executive following the shutdown of Flybe.

The airline entered administration, putting 2,000 jobs at risk, after a bid for fresh financial support failed.

The DUP's Pam Cameron asks how the department estimates future need in the care sector.

"This is not an exact science, it is about predicting the future but we're drawing on a very wide range of data sources," says Mr Holland.

Image source, NI Assembly

Ms Cameron also asks about meeting currently unmet need and the chief social worker couches his reply in terms of waiting times for care packages.

He says that over the past decade "we have raised the threshold, so the level of need you need to have before you can get a service now is higher than it was previously."

Alliance's Paula Bradshaw asks Sean Holland what role technology can play to enhance or support the delivery of care.

He replies that while "human relationships are the most important thing" when it comes to social care, "over the next number of years, technology will blend into how you deliver care".

Image source, NI Assembly

Mr Holland adds that "isolation and loneliness can be as much as an issue as actually needing physical care support".

As a result, he says the department is looking at whether there are "remote solutions to help people stay more in touch," such as "tech that's already available".

People Before Profit's Gerry Carroll asks officials whether the department has discussed a move towards publicly-owned care homes.

Sean Holland replies that "there have been discussions about balance" within the market.

Image source, NI Assembly

"We have a mixed economy of care," Mr Holland explains, "which was established in the 1990s."

He adds that it wasn't managed because there wasn't "a clear policy position on what the proportions should be" - which has resulted in greater proportions of nursing and care homes in the private sector.

Colm Gildernew wants to know if there are plans in place to protect older people, especially care home residents, from coronavirus.

Sean Holland says it's "really, really important" that there should be a unified approach to this.

"My colleague Michael McBride (the chief medical officer) is leading that process" he says.

Image source, Getty Images

He says social care is involved with the forums and there are plans in place but "I'd prefer not to respond to queries about the virus outside of those mechanisms".

Mr Holland says its important for public perception that there is "a consistent face and method for communication in relation to coronavirus".

Colm Gildernew (below) asks if the department is going to commission an independent analysis of the cost of care.

Mr Holland says this was one of the proposals contained in the 2017 Power to People report on adult social care.

Image source, NI Assembly

"Unfortunately at the point in time, the funding that we had allocated for that became reallocated," he says.

Mr Holland says that doesn't mean they haven't been doing work to look at the true cost of care by engaging with independent health care providers and doing some internal analysis of the market.

In his opening remarks, Sean Holland outlines some of the pressures felt by service users, and those working in, the sector.

He sayse mployees are often on minimal pay, "which contributes to the misconception that social care is a low skill activity, which I have to emphasis in the strongest of terms, it is not".

Image source, NI Assembly

Mr Holland adds: "Unlike health care, social care is not free to all at the point of delivery."

Chairing this morning's meeting is Sinn Féin's Colm Gildernew.

He introduces the first item of the day - a briefing on the reform of adult social care.

Image source, NI Assembly

Chief Social Worker Sean Holland gives a presentation.

He's accompanied by Deputy Chief Social Worker Jackie McIlroy and departmental official Mark Lee.

Here's a brief look at what's to come in today's Health Committee.

Image source, NI Assembly

Welcome to Parliament Buildings at Stormont for Thursday's live coverage of business at the Northern Ireland Assembly.

This is morning we have the Health Committee with a briefing on the O'Hara report into hyponatraemia related deaths.

This afternoon at the Public Accounts Committee there's an evidence session on the NI Audit office report into major capital projects.

It all kicks off at 10:30.