Member's statement: Health: Access to Care

Member's statement by Mr Daniel McCrossan on 13 January 2026.

MLA

Mr Daniel McCrossan

Party at the time

Social Democratic and Labour Party

Date

13 January 2026

Type

Member's statement

Business

Members' Statements

Heading

Health: Access to Care

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5315843

Read the official Assembly record

Text

The state of our health service is no longer just a crisis; it is an absolute failure — a failure of the shambolic Executive to get a handle on it. The cost of that failure is being felt every day by families across our communities. As MLAs, we hear about those challenges every day. Poor access to care has severe consequences: late diagnosis, delayed treatment and overstretched services are directly impacting on outcomes, particularly for cancer patients. When people are diagnosed late, treatment is more aggressive, more traumatic and far less likely to succeed. That is not just unavoidable; it is the result of systemic failure. What makes the situation even worse is the lack of accountability in our health service. When things go wrong, no one seems to be responsible; families cannot get answers; complaints go unanswered; and lessons are not learned. Communication is often poor or non-existent at the very moment when people are frightened, vulnerable and desperate for clarity. That is just poor administration and is totally unacceptable. It is not abstract to me. Over the Christmas period — a difficult time for a lot of people — I lost a very good friend, Pat McLaughlin. He was diagnosed with cancer and survived for only a few short weeks. He passed away, surrounded by his family, on Boxing Day. His family were robbed of time that they should have had, and his story is a stark reminder of the brutal reality of late diagnosis.

As I speak, another good friend of mine, Martina Ward, aged 62, is being laid to rest. Martina fought that illness with courage and dignity, but she, too, has been taken far too soon. Her family is burying a loved one today, and, sadly, is far from alone. On behalf of the House, I offer my condolences to her son Adam and the Ward family.

Constituents now tell me that they are anxious about going to hospital, anxious about overcrowding, anxious about cancelled appointments, anxious about being left waiting without explanation, and anxious about a system that they no longer trust to be there when they need it most. That fear should shame those who are responsible for running our health service. That may be blunt but, unfortunately, it is very much the reality. Let us be clear: the system is in disarray. It is a shadow of its former self and all that the NHS was designed to achieve. Staff are exhausted and demoralised, holding together a broken system through sheer dedication, whilst political leadership has failed to deliver the reform and urgency required. It is not acceptable. The Executive have had years to act and have failed for years to do so. Behind every delay is a family living with fear, and behind every late diagnosis is a life put at risk. Accountability cannot be optional. Time is critical, and action must be swift in order to save lives. The people whom we represent deserve a health service that saves lives, not excuses from the Executive, who are clearly not delivering on the issue. They need to be honest with the people about whether they are up for the job or not. The Executive need to stop dithering and start delivering, with fewer fights over flags. Let us see this place actually fight for the health service and for the people who are affected each and every day.

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

Assessment

Not flagged

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 14:12 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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