Debate contribution: Cross-border Healthcare
Debate contribution by Mr Mike Nesbitt on .
- MLA
- Mr Mike Nesbitt
- Party at the time
- Ulster Unionist Party
- Date
- 18 June 2024
- Type
- Debate contribution (made as a minister)
- Business
- Opposition Business
- Heading
- Cross-border Healthcare
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4497208
Read the official Assembly record
Text
Thank you, Principal Deputy Speaker. Perhaps I should begin by repeating something that I said in yesterday's debate: I have no ideological or political objection to further cooperation with health authorities in the Republic. I have no issue with exploring opportunities for reasonable cooperation on health, and, indeed, I look forward to my first engagement with my counterpart, Minister Stephen Donnelly. I understand that I am due to meet him next week. When it comes to health and well-being, doing what is right will always be my main priority. My mantra, of course, is for better outcomes. Given that health services in countries across Europe are under pressure to varying degrees, it makes sense that we work together with our nearest neighbour in a mutually beneficial way to improve outcomes for everybody. There is, of course, a long-standing principle of cooperation and collaboration with health services in the Republic of Ireland, where it has been demonstrated that it is safe, deliverable and beneficial to patients and their families in both jurisdictions. Indeed, we have seen very good examples of that in the all-island congenital heart disease network, a single service for children and young people across the island of Ireland; and in the North West Cancer Centre, which I shall return to later. Specialist paediatric services, which are referenced in the motion, are, by their nature, relatively low-volume, high-complexity services, and many already operate on the basis of clinical cooperation with other specialist centres in both Great Britain and Ireland. For example, paediatric gastroenterology has on-call support with the South and referral pathways to Great Britain centres. Where there are further viable opportunities for cross-border collaboration in vulnerable or specialist services, these could and should be fully explored within available resources. Therefore, it is not so much a question of cooperation as of capacity. The child health partnership programme board, which was established to provide strategic direction for the child health partnership may consider vulnerable and specialist paediatrics as part of the future work plan of that partnership. Regarding paediatric and perinatal post-mortem services, I will say, first, that I, of course, fully sympathise with the devastating loss that many people and families have experienced, and that includes at least one Member of the House. Therefore, I recognise the importance to them of having the causes of a pregnancy loss or of a child's death examined and understood in a professional and empathetic manner. Mr McGrath talked of two words: "efficiency" and "compassion"; I would add "professionalism" and "empathy". Paediatric and perinatal post-mortem services have been provided to Northern Ireland by Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust in Liverpool since 3 January 2019. That is when the service in Belfast became unsustainable, following the resignation of the sole paediatric pathologist. Families accessing the service receive all the clinical advice, psychological support and aftercare that they require. I understand that the uptake of the service is comparable with the uptake when it was based in Belfast. That said, I certainly do not disagree that a service based on the island of Ireland could be somewhat easier for families who find themselves in that situation. However, until a full assessment of feasibility has been carried out, it is not possible to say that an all-island paediatric pathology service would be clinically or economically viable. My Department remains committed to progressing scoping work with the Department of Health in Ireland to explore the feasibility of an all-island approach to those services. Progressing the feasibility assessment will require the commitment of Governments in both jurisdictions in order to proceed.
595 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Assessment
Jev’s structured answers met the documented threshold for “not flagged”.
- Overall probability that the activity is being used to promote, exploit or escalate an identity-based controversy: 0.03 (flagging needs at least 0.70; at or below 0.30 is not flagged).
- None of the five culture-war criteria was met (each was below 0.60).
- Assessed as legitimate policy scrutiny (0.94).
- No identity-based framing was identified (1.00).
- The overall probability was at or below the not-flagging threshold.
This is an AI-generated assessment of the text, made against published criteria. It is not a finding of fact about the MLA or their intentions. The Assembly record itself is the fact.
Jev’s structured answers
| Question | Probability | Met? |
|---|---|---|
| Identity framing | 0.03 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.01 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.02 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.02 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.03 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.94 | Yes |
| Overall judgement | 0.03 | At or below not-flagging threshold |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing (chosen) | 1.00 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.00 |
| Criticises or condemns it | 0.00 |
| Adopts it | 0.00 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-related subject | 0.90 |
| Constitutional question, Brexit, the Windsor Framework and sovereignty | 0.06 |
| Gender, sexuality, abortion and related social issues | 0.03 |
| Another identity-related subject | 0.01 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.00 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 10:38 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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