The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) MLA Robbie Butler has been appointed Northern Ireland’s Minister for Health.
Jon Burrows, the UUP leader, confirmed Butler’s nomination on Thursday, saying he had “my full confidence and the full backing of our Assembly team”.
Butler, a former deputy leader of the party, said it was “an enormous privilege and an even greater responsibility”.
An MLA for Lagan Valley, Butler replaces Mike Nesbitt, who resigned on Tuesday amid a row with Burrows over plans by the Northern Health and Social Care Trust to close emergency general surgery services at the Causeway Hospital in Coleraine, Co Derry.
Following a review and a public consultation last year, the trust recommended that such services should only be provided at one of its sites, Antrim Area Hospital, a move that requires final approval from the minister.
Burrows last week told a public meeting in Coleraine that he did not support the change. “I do not agree with it, and I will never agree with it,” he said.
In his resignation letter, which he subsequently published on social media, Nesbitt said he was “not the sort of minister who is happy to discover the leader’s view of issues under my purview by having to monitor the media”. He accused Burrows of introducing a fresh “red line” in health.
[ Why did the UUP’s Mike Nesbitt resign as Northern Ireland’s minister for health?Opens in new window ]
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Burrows thanked Nesbitt for his service and said he was “disappointed that he has resigned, but I now need to look to the future”.
A former butcher who spent 16 years in the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service, Butler became an MLA in 2016 and currently chairs the Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs Committee at Stormont.
In a statement following his appointment, he said he wanted Northern Ireland “to have a world-class health service that people can access more quickly”.
“I take on this role with no illusions about the scale of the challenge,” he said. “Those problems will not be solved overnight, and I will not insult people by pretending otherwise.
“My approach will be straightforward: listen most to the people who deliver and use our services, take decisions and be accountable for them.”
Butler added that he intended to “build on the momentum” created by Nesbitt, “while bringing my own ideas, energy and priorities to the role”.
“This is an enormous responsibility, but one I take on with determination and optimism,” he said.
The permanent secretary at the Department of Health, Mike Farrar, on Thursday told an emergency meeting of Stormont’s health committee there were many big issues facing the new minister, including staff pay, a challenging financial situation, and “a reset agenda which we really cannot afford to lose time on.”
In regard to the future of emergency general surgery at the Causeway hospital, he said it was “important to put on the record that no proposals had been taken at this point to ministers and no decision had been taken.”
Dr Alan Stout, chairman of the British Medical Association Northern Ireland Council, said the body would seek an early meeting with Butler to discuss the “urgent action required” on a range of issues.
Dr Alan Stout, chairman of the BMA Northern Ireland Council. Phhotograph: Arthur Allison/Pacemaker
“The Minister’s immediate priority should be to implement in full the 2025/26 … recommendation and commit to an additional above-inflation pay uplift for all doctors in Northern Ireland as part of a clear pathway towards full pay restoration,” he said He also called for a “sustainable long-term funding solution” for general practice in the North.
Additional reporting – PA.