Mike Nesbitt resigns as Health Minister after clash with UUP leader Jon Burrows

Mike Nesbitt MLA

Mike Nesbitt has resigned as Northern Ireland’s Health Minister following a major political dispute with Ulster Unionist Party leader Jon Burrows over emergency general surgery at Causeway Hospital.

In a strongly worded resignation letter sent to Mr Burrows on Tuesday evening, Mr Nesbitt said the UUP leader had created “shock waves” across the health and social care system by publicly backing the retention of emergency surgery at the Coleraine hospital.

The former party leader also accused Mr Burrows of effectively introducing a second political “red line” on health policy without resolving the issue directly with him.

The Ulster Unionist Party confirmed Mr Nesbitt’s resignation and said it would announce its next steps shortly.

Causeway Hospital dispute prompts resignation

The Northern Health and Social Care Trust has proposed centralising emergency general surgery at Antrim Area Hospital, while concentrating most planned general surgery at Causeway Hospital.

The Trust has maintained that Causeway would retain its 24-hour Emergency Department, with patients assessed and diagnosed there before those requiring admission for emergency surgery were transferred to Antrim. Final approval for any major change rests with the Department of Health and the Health Minister.

However, the proposal has faced strong opposition from residents, campaigners and political representatives concerned about access to emergency care across the north coast.

Mr Burrows, the North Antrim MLA who became UUP leader earlier this year, recently told a packed public meeting in Coleraine that he supported retaining emergency surgery at Causeway.

Mr Nesbitt’s letter indicates that this intervention created a fundamental disagreement between the party leader and its serving Health Minister.

He wrote:

“This letter concerns the fact you appear to have introduced a second ‘red line’, regarding Emergency General Surgery at Causeway Hospital.”

Mr Nesbitt said he was unhappy to discover his party leader’s position on matters within his ministerial responsibility through media coverage.

“I am not the sort of Minister who is happy to discover the Leader’s view of issues under my purview by having to monitor the media,” he said.

He added that he had offered Mr Burrows a way to manage the dispute on Monday but had not received what he considered a timely response.

“As I have not received a timely response, and given the shock waves you have created in the HSC system, this matter needs resolved.”

Nesbitt raises puberty blockers dispute

The resignation letter reveals wider tensions between the two senior Ulster Unionists over health policy.

Mr Nesbitt said Mr Burrows had previously identified one “red line” concerning puberty blockers and Northern Ireland’s possible involvement in the UK-wide Pathways clinical trial.

The former minister said he accepted Mr Burrows’ opposition despite maintaining that potential participation in the trial had been the price of securing Executive agreement to join the wider ban on puberty blockers.

He acknowledged that his subsequent change of position would have caused concern among ministerial colleagues.

“Many Executive colleagues will rightly feel betrayed by my U-turn,” he wrote.

Mr Nesbitt then contrasted that earlier disagreement with Mr Burrows’ intervention on Causeway Hospital, describing the hospital issue as an apparent second “red line”.

Personal message to UUP leader

Mr Nesbitt began his letter by recalling his role in bringing Mr Burrows into the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Mr Burrows was co-opted as a North Antrim MLA following Robin Swann’s election to the House of Commons and Colin Crawford’s subsequent resignation from Stormont.

Mr Nesbitt said identifying Mr Burrows as Mr Crawford’s successor had prevented the party from losing the Assembly seat.

“Bringing you into Stormont is on me, as is my decision to stand down as Party Leader, opening the opportunity for you to mount a successful campaign to take the role,” he wrote.

He congratulated Mr Burrows on the speed of his rise to the party leadership, adding:

“Previously, I held the record for the shortest time between becoming an MLA and assuming the leadership, but you proved I was only playing at it. Congratulations!”

The tone then shifted as Mr Nesbitt addressed what he described as “the more difficult part” — the widening disagreement over health policy and ministerial authority.

‘Greatest privilege of my political career’

Mr Nesbitt concluded the letter by describing his time as Health Minister as the greatest privilege of his political career.

“It is, therefore, with no little regret that I have composed this letter of resignation,” he said.

His departure brings an abrupt end to an arrangement announced in January, when Mr Burrows confirmed that Mr Nesbitt would remain Health Minister until the end of the current Assembly mandate.

At that time, the new UUP leader praised Mr Nesbitt’s leadership and said long-term transformation of Northern Ireland’s health service was under way.

UUP thanks Nesbitt for his service

Confirming the resignation, an Ulster Unionist Party spokesperson said:

“We can confirm that Mike Nesbitt has chosen to resign as Minister of Health, and we thank him sincerely for his service and for the leadership he has given to our health and social care workforce.

“Mike took on one of the most difficult briefs in government with a genuine determination to make health and social care better for everyone in Northern Ireland.

“From beginning the shift towards a neighbourhood model of care, to putting health inequalities at the centre of policy, he leaves a significant legacy, not least the progress made on some of Northern Ireland’s longest waiting lists.

“The Ulster Unionist Party will set out further details on next steps shortly.”

Secretary of State calls for swift appointment

Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Sir Chris Bryant thanked Mike Nesbitt for his contribution as Health Minister and stressed that work to reform the health service must continue without interruption.

Sir Chris said:

“I’d like to thank Mike Nesbitt for the enormous contribution he has made as Northern Ireland’s Health Minister, in confronting the huge challenges facing the health service and driving forward reform. It is vital for patients across Northern Ireland that this work continues without interruption.

“I look forward to the appointment of a new Health Minister as soon as possible, so that there is strong leadership in the Department, further progress on reform and continued stability.

“I have spoken to Mike and wish him well for the future and thank him again for his service.”

The resignation leaves the UUP facing an urgent decision over who will take responsibility for Northern Ireland’s health service at a time of severe waiting-list pressures and continuing controversy over the future configuration of hospital services.

It also places the future of the Causeway Hospital proposal firmly at the centre of that decision, with the party now required to choose a new minister and clarify whether Mr Burrows’ position will become official UUP policy within the Department of Health.