Debate contribution: Health
Debate contribution by Mr Mike Nesbitt on .
- MLA
- Mr Mike Nesbitt
- Party at the time
- Ulster Unionist Party
- Date
- 15 June 2026
- Type
- Debate contribution (made as a minister)
- Business
- Question for Urgent Oral Answer
- Heading
- Health
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5614288
Read the official Assembly record
Text
Yes. Staff at the Ballyclare advice centre said that they were the target of misinformation. Somebody asked them, "Are you sheltering boat people?". Misinformation has always existed. The Nazis specialised in misinformation, but they did not have social media. This the problem with the modern world. There is an old expression that the lie is halfway around the world before the truth gets its boots on. That is happening in spades in the modern world. There was misinformation about that. Yes, all attacks are wrong, and, as I said a little earlier, thousands of attacks on Health and Social Care workers have happened in our hospitals, and not necessarily because of race. They are happening for a variety of reasons, and not one of them is justifiable. Yet those wonderful 75,000 or 76,000 people who make up the workforce keep turning up for work. They keep going to strangers and saving their lives, knowing that they will probably never see them again. There is a magnificent combination of professionalism based on their training and their experience and compassion based on their empathy and their humanity. Those are not traits that I saw on the streets of east Belfast last week.
Yes, I will expect to receive reports from the trusts, first of all, if there are any resignations. That is a hard number that they should be able to provide easily. Also, I would like a more qualitative response from the trusts on their assessment of morale and who is thinking of leaving and who is really upset. In terms of the attacks, there is an issue that, if you are a health worker and are attacked, it is currently up to you to take action through the courts. I have spoken to the Justice Minister, who is bringing a victims and witnesses of crime Bill. Through officials in both Departments, we are scoping out whether there is a potential to put in an amendment that would give powers to employers to further support their staff in taking action against anybody who abuses Health and Social Care staff. I spoke to a young nurse in Altnagelvin a while ago who had been badly physically abused. She was making the point that she had to get a solicitor if she wanted to take action against that person, because the law currently does not permit the trust to take action on her behalf. Maybe, in that Bill, there is an opportunity to change that and bring the full force of the Health and Social Care system, not the force of one young person, against the abusers.
First, on the Executive, I am glad that the First Minister and deputy First Minister joined me at the Mater to show solidarity. That was a very important image to send out. Giving staff additional time off to rebuild will be a matter for the trusts. I would be extremely disappointed if they did not make that facility available to people. I was making the point yesterday that the BBC showed a montage of trouble, and I think that we all saw the family that was bundled into the back of a police Land Rover. I am told that the mother is a nurse. I do not want to go further than that, but she is a nurse and they were having to leave because the house next door had been set fire to. As for what sort of compensation arrangements are put in place, I am not aware of that, but I say to the Member that I am keen to be told of that. I will be asking that question over the course of this week. We talk a lot about being candid, being open, being this and being that. The phrase that I like for Health and Social Care is, "Be human". If it were you, what would you want us as a health and social care service to do for you?
As yet, I have not. I have been making it my business to be across the impact of that unacceptable week of violence on the health and social care system. I have engaged with a number of representative bodies in the past, and I will continue to do so on foot of what happened last week. I will also take what I consider to be an appropriate interest in a case. As a Minister, I should not be getting involved in individual cases, but I wish to make an exception and take an interest in Mr Ogilvie's ongoing healthcare requirements.
I am shocked; I was not aware. I will follow up on that incident in Whiteabbey. Good God. If we do not have our international colleagues, the health service collapses. Let us be straight about that. We simply do not have the capacity without them. We have to continue to recruit. Over the two years in which I have been in post, I have been to Altnagelvin, where there is a centre for acclimatisation for international colleagues; I have been in Daisy Hill, where I have met international doctors from India who are working at Daisy Hill and Craigavon — in the Southern Trust, effectively; and, last week, I was at the day procedure unit in Omagh, which is doing fabulous work. There is one procedure for which, not long ago, the waiting list was over four years. It is now coming down to less than 26 weeks. The driver of that procedure is one consultant: he is a Muslim. He is not from these parts, but I tell you this: he is so dedicated to this place, and he is so committed to the Health and Social Care system. He is a star, yet the people on the streets last week would send him back.
I can tell them that 100%. They are essential, welcome and valued, and they bring compassion and expertise. They bring something else that I should mention. I see it once a year when they have an annual conference at Stranmillis University College; in fact, it is not just there that I see it. As well as that compassion and professionalism, do you know what else they bring? They bring joy to Health and Social Care. If you are lying in a bed, sick and worried about your future, a nurse tending you with joy is so important, and I thank them for it.
1,068 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
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