Ulster Unionist Party: Doctor calls Robin Swann’s resignation as Health Secretary ahead of Westminster campaign ‘frustrating’

Robin Swann is planning to run for Westminster and has said he will step down as Health Secretary once a general election is called – despite previously stating he could continue in the role during his application.

The government is expected to call a general election this fall.

It comes at a time when Mr Swann is responsible for urgent reforms to local health care as Stormont faces a financial crisis.

NI has the worst healthcare waiting lists in Britain, with Mr Swann telling the BBC that £1 billion was needed “just to stand still”.

Dr. Alan Stout, chairman of the British Medical Association in NI, said momentum should not be lost as a result of the minister’s departure.

“Consistency and commitment are important because it is such a big job. People in health care think that the minister has done a good job so far and that he has built good relationships, and that in itself is frustrating,” said Dr. Stout.

“Progress is being made, but it cannot be linked to one person or to personalities.

“We must move forward and not lose momentum and commitment to the major challenges that need to be addressed.”

Meanwhile, Professor Deirdre Heenan, an academic specializing in healthcare, said the decision to appoint Mr Swann as health minister had been “a catastrophic mistake”. to collapse”.

“When stability, consistency, a long-term vision and an unwavering focus on the enormous task ahead were urgently needed, we found a man with the ambition to be elected to Westminster at the coming general election,” said she.

“Proposing to fix a broken health care system with one eye on putting up election posters is completely farcical and has further eroded confidence in our political system.”

Mr Swann told BBC’s Sunday Politics that he would give up his seat on the Stormont Executive once the election period begins.

The UUP MLA served as health minister during the Covid-19 pandemic and was reappointed by party leader Doug Beattie when devolution was restored in February.

The same month it was confirmed that Mr Swann would stand as a candidate in the South Antrim general election. The seat is one of the UUP’s key targets, with current DUP MP Paul Girvan holding a majority of 2,600.

Mr Swann told the BBC: “It would not be my intention to stay until election day because the purdah is starting and there will be other stages as well.

“So that decision will be made long before election day is declared, by my party leader.”

Former party leader Mike Nesbitt has been appointed as the department’s private secretary and will soon start in the role, with the expectation that he will take over as minister during the election period.

Sources say he has already started reading his briefing and he has his own ideas about the ongoing reforms.

Mr Swann’s move has raised questions about the intentions of other potential Westminster candidates in the Executive.

Naomi Long had been tipped to represent the Alliance Party in East Belfast ahead of the Assembly’s restoration.

The party has not yet announced the leader’s intentions under the current circumstances, saying only that nothing has been decided yet and talks are ongoing.

However, with the DUP in crisis and TUV/Reform indicating they want a candidate in the constituency, incumbent MP and DUP interim leader Gavin Robinson has a battle on his hands to retain his seat.

Ms Long previously won the seat from Peter Robinson in 2010, but lost it in 2015 to Mr Robinson, who has held it ever since.

The current justice minister is the only person considered capable of taking over the seat from the DUP, but candidacy would raise questions about her ministerial post. The legal system here is also currently in financial crisis and subject to ongoing reform.

Sinn Fein has not yet announced any candidates for the general election, but sources say it is not considering any of its current ministers for Westminster.

The party is abstentionist and it would make little political sense to place a working minister in a role in which he or she would not take a seat in the House of Commons.

Upper Bann MLA John O’Dowd stood for the party in 2019 but is now minister in the Department of Infrastructure.

The DUP’s Carla Lockhart sits in a safe Unionist Westminster seat in Upper Bann, with a majority of over 8,000 in 2019 ahead of Sinn Fein.

Instead, it would make more sense to appoint Councilor Catherine Nelson, who has a long track record of service in the constituency.

Once again sources have said there are no plans to appoint current Finance Minister Caoimhe Archibald – although they do have a second choice: her sister, councilor and Sinn Fein press officer Niamh Archibald, who was the first member of the party to in Coleraine was chosen. in last year’s municipal elections.