New health minister faces full in-tray, committee told

Permanent Secretary Mike Farrar warned there is no time to lose in a major plan to “reset” the health service.

He was speaking to the Stormont Health Committee on Thursday as Robbie Butler was announced as health minister.

Mr Butler was appointed by UUP leader Jon Burrows following the resignation of former minister Mike Nesbitt earlier this week amid a row over a proposal to withdraw emergency general surgery services from the Causeway Hospital, Coleraine.

The committee held an emergency meeting on the issue.

Mr Farrar told the committee the process around emergency general surgery services at Causeway Hospital is not yet complete.

“It’s important to put on the record that no proposals had been taken at this point to ministers and no decision had been taken,” he told MLAs.

Mr Farrar, who was set to meet Mr Butler at 4pm on Thursday, said staff pay remains a significant issue, as well as a challenging financial position in the absence of a Stormont budget for the year.

“We have a reset agenda which really we cannot afford to lose time on,” he said.

“Then there is a number of issues that the minister will have to pick up that relate to commitments we have made to the Muckamore families, and the people who were subject to the Urology Inquiry about working with families to implement recommendations around safe care, so there is a big agenda there for the minister.

“In terms of has there been any slippage in terms of decisions that might have been taken this week, I don’t believe that there has been anything which has been time- critical.”