No time for new minister to fix health service warns top doctor

Doctors have warned the health service in Northern Ireland does not have the required staff due to an "abject failure of workforce planning", and there is not enough time to make changes before the next election.

Dr Clodagh Corrigan, who is the deputy chair of the British Medical Association, said Northern Ireland "does not have the surgeons and the staff to have all specialities across all sites".

This comes as the new health minister for Northern Ireland is expected to be announced later following the resignation of Ulster Unionist Mike Nesbitt from the post.

An emergency meeting of Stormont's health committee is also due to take place on Thursday to discuss the fall out from Nesbitt's resignation.

Nesbitt announced he was stepping down on Tuesday night amid a row with his party leader Jon Burrows.

It followed a clash over withdrawing emergency general surgery services (EGS) from Causeway Hospital, where Nesbitt said the party leader had "introduced a second red line".

Speaking on BBC Radio Ulster's Good Morning Ulster programme, Corrigan said she understands the concerns and frustrations caused by the closure of Causeway EGS.

However, she said closing it was the right decision.

"There has been an abject failure of workforce planning over the course of very many years," Corrigan said.

"We simply do not have the surgeons and the staff to have all specialities across all sites."

Corrigan added that she "massively fears that going forward we will see a placeholder minister who's not willing to make decisions and not willing to negotiate as we come into the winter months".

She said Nesbitt's decision to resign is "admirable if not frustrating".

"We have mere months left in the tenure of this particular government, and there's a huge amount of work that needs to be done. And I fear that none of it will."

Dr Frances O'Hagan said she is worried the new health minister may stall progress in discussions around primary healthcare funding.

She said primary care is "looking down the barrel of an absolute disaster" without support in the next few months.

O'Hagan added that the sector had been "close to getting some active support in this year" prior to Nesbitt stepping down.

"It looks like he was in an impossible situation," she added.

On Tuesday night, Nesbitt said his time as health minster had been "the greatest privilege of his political career".

Burrows said he was "disappointed" Nesbitt had quit but pledged his replacement in the Stormont executive job would "get going with gusto".

He said he would make a decision "overnight" and confirm on Thursday who would replace Nesbitt but refused to rule himself out for the position.

On Wednesday, officials in the health service voiced their support for Nesbitt, saying he had "offered strong political leadership" and had "listened to clinical leaders".

They included the Royal College of Surgeons, NI Confederation for Health and Social Care, the British Medical Association.

Stormont's health committee will convene later with departmental officials, including the department's permanent secretary, following a request from committee's chair, Sinn Fein MLA Philip McGuigan.

McGuigan said the committee needed to know what decisions had to be made by any incoming minister.

Democratic Unionist Party leader Gavin Robinson said if the UUP decided not to nominate a health minister, his party - as the next entitled to nominate under the current rules - would do so.

Last week Burrows, who is a North Antrim MLA, told a town hall meeting that he did not support emergency general surgery (EGS) being moved from Causeway Hospital.

The Northern Health Trust previously recommended that EGS should only be provided at one of its hospital sites. The service would move to Antrim.

It is understood the Department of Health (DoH) was still waiting for a final recommendation to come to the minister.

Nesbitt was unable to attend last week's meeting due to a constituency election meeting in Strangford and Burrows attended in his place, where he voiced opposition to the closure of the EGS service.

Last week he said he did not agree with that and would "never agree with it".

However, he stopped short of saying whether or not he would direct Nesbitt not to sign off on the move.

Fergal Tracey is a retired consultant but still works in the Northern Health and Social Care Trust.

Speaking to BBC News NI following a committee meeting of the SOS Causeway Hospital campaign group on Wednesday evening, he said moving EGS from Causeway Hospital would have "catastrophic effects" both on patients and the future viability of the hospital.

"I live here, I know what's going to happen to me, my family, my neighbours.

"It's going to be catastrophic for them in terms of acute healthcare in the medium and longer term."

Retired theatre sister Irene McLaughlin said she didn't see any benefit in moving the EGS service to Antrim.

She said she thought Burrows understood "the passion of the people in this area and the dangers of taking [services] away".

"I think it only makes sense that [EGS] should be retained at Causeway," she added.

She said she wanted what was best for the patients in the area.

"I've always been for my patients and I still am for the people in this area to get the best they can."