A leading surgeon in Northern Ireland has said colleagues from across the UK and Ireland felt they had no option but to intervene when it appeared politics not patient safety was influencing discussions on the provision of emergency general surgery (EGS).
The surgeons issued a statement after Health Minister Mike Nesbitt resigned following a fall out with Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) leader Jon Burrows over withdrawing EGS from Causeway Hospital.
Damian McKay, an Ulster Hospital surgeon, said he and others were "concerned, disappointed and frustrated".
The new Health Minister Robbie Butler has said his decisions will be based on "expert evidence opinion" as well as the "voices of the people".
McKay, who is a general and colorectal surgeon, was speaking on behalf of the three surgical associations in the UK and Ireland who issued a joint statement on Friday in response to the disagreement.
Burrows had declared he would never support the withdrawal of the EGS service during a public meeting, a view Nesbitt said he only discovered by "monitoring the media".
The surgeons said "recent developments" risked further delaying the implementation of the 2022 review of EGS services in Northern Ireland, which recommended having the service at fewer sites.
McKay told BBC News NI: "The key message should always be patient safety first and political votes second.
"Health outcomes should not be dictated to by Facebook and social media groups – it should be determined by evidence and the evidence around Causeway has been there since 2025."
Source: BBC News, 24 August 2026
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