East Antrim MLA Danny Donnelly, himself a nurse, stated: “The sheer scale of this cut threatens to do real and fundamental damage to the future of the health service, as well as undermine the effectiveness of the public model in general. It will only reinforce the two-tier access to healthcare which is already apparent, running contrary to the very principle of the NHS that no one should be denied access because of their means.”

Alliance Health spokesperson Paula Bradshaw MLA added: “What this announcement should do is refocus the minds of those currently refusing to either take responsibility for governing during a crisis in budgets and healthcare, or agree the reform required to ensure that never again is our political system and health service held hostage by a single political party.

“This counterproductive and disastrous announcement is ultimately a consequence of the refusal to get on with reform, both of our healthcare and our political system, which we all know to be necessary. Those who rely on our health and social care services and those who work in them deserve far better.”