She described the meeting, which happened at Stormont House amid a dispute between health workers and management over pay and staffing levels which has sparked widespread industrial action, as a "political meeting, not a negotiation".
"I think there will be movement. Obviously we have to wait to hear what the department and the employers... I don't want to pre-empt those negotiations, but I think it was a positive meeting," she said. the health service on their shoulders day and daily."
She said they now "await feedback from the Secretary of State as to those next steps".