New health minister Robbie Butler dodges Causeway issue - promising to 'listen most' to both people who deliver and use services
Stormont’s new health minister Robbie Butler has promised to “listen most” to both the people using the health service – and those running it.
The Ulster Unionist Party MLA has yet to comment on the row over services at the Causeway hospital, the issue that forced his predecessor’s resignation.
Mike Nesbitt was furious that leader Jon Burrows had publicly pledged his opposition to the removal of emergency general surgery at the Coleraine site.
Health service managers had proposed the changes, which would have eventually come before Mr Nesbitt for sign-off. That decision will now fall to his successor Robbie Butler.
In a statement after his appointment, Mr Butler said: “My approach will be straightforward: listen most to the people who deliver and use our services, take decisions and be accountable for them".
The new minister also said “decisions must be guided by clinical evidence, by the experience of those on the frontline, by the needs of patients and by the confidence of communities right across Northern Ireland”.
SDLP Opposition Health Spokesperson Colin McGrath MLA said Mr Butler is taking on one of the toughest jobs in the Executive, and there will be very little time for him to find his feet.
“The circumstances surrounding Mike Nesbitt's departure have also underlined just how difficult decisions around hospital reconfiguration will be. We know change is necessary, but it must be properly planned, clinically led and command the confidence of the communities affected.
“Rural communities in particular cannot simply be expected to accept services moving further away without confidence that the alternatives will provide them with timely and appropriate care. Reform has to result in better services for patients, wherever they live.
“The SDLP Opposition will work with the new Minister when he gets it right and challenge him when he gets it wrong. After the upheaval of the last few days, the test for the Health Minister is straightforward: bring stability to the Department, put patients ahead of party politics and start delivering the change our health service desperately needs”, the South Down MLA said.
Mr Nesbitt had received praise from senior health service figures for his approach to reconfiguration of services.