Bengoa

Health reform is a hot topic at the moment.

THERE’s nothing more important than people’s health, and accordingly it was made a spending priority by Stormont in last December’s draft budget – albeit somewhat belatedly.

Pressure on the DUP to restore the executive over the coming months will supposedly be provided by the accelerating collapse of the health service.

I am one of the people Prof Rafael Bengoa is referring to.

SDLP representatives will not lobby against health service reorganisation in their constituencies if changes have been recommended by experts.

Lagan Valley Hospital in Lisburn is set to become the region’s first day procedure centre 

Devolution was restored in January because the health service was in crisis, with one fifth of Northern Ireland’s population on a waiting list, half of them for over a year.

The DUP has “flatly rejected” blame for the Stormont talks impasse, as declared by secretary of state Julian Smith and Tanaiste Simon Coveney.

AN expert who led a review which recommended an overhaul of the Northern Ireland health service has provoked outrage among trade unions after supporting performance-related pay for nurses and NHS workers.

The north's most senior health official has warned that the NHS is heading towards "a full-blown crisis" unless the system is urgently reformed.