Debate contribution: Resident Doctors: Strike Action

Debate contribution by Mr Colin McGrath on 29 June 2026.

MLA: Mr Colin McGrath
Party at the time: Social Democratic and Labour Party
Date: 29 June 2026
Type: Debate contribution
Business: Oral Answers to Questions
Heading: Resident Doctors: Strike Action
Assembly identifier: Official Report component 5644892

Text

Minister, regardless of where people stand on the exact figure, surely we can all agree that a health service cannot function without the doctors whom it trains. Resident doctors say that their pay has fallen significantly in real terms, and more than half of final-year medical students surveyed said they were considering leaving Northern Ireland because of pay and conditions. Today, patients are paying the price of the dispute in their treatment. Is today's strike not the clearest indictment yet of your handling of our health service, showing that, under your watch, it has become cheaper to lose doctors than to keep them?

103 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Part of an exchange

This follow-up belongs to: Topical question AQT 2501/22-27.

Assessment

Not analysed

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