Alliance Health spokesperson Paula Bradshaw MLA has said the DUP is responsible for putting patients at risk through its failure to move quickly to form an Executive.

The South Belfast MLA was speaking after the British Medical Association Northern Ireland and four royal colleges criticised the lack of an Executive to take decisions. The DUP has so far said it would not form a government unless changes were made to the Northern Ireland Protocol.

“What we are seeing here is a callous disregard by the DUP for patients currently in the health service and for any of us who may need to access the health system in the near future,” said Ms Bradshaw.

“The DUP’s latest reprehensible power-play, designed to cover up its own failings during the Brexit negotiations as well as for the sake of personal expediency in the case of its leader, is putting thousands of our most vulnerable people at risk.

“The health service cannot be fixed without an Executive in place, taking steps to create a budget and manage work across all Departments which will restore truly universal public health provision. Health workers themselves will also be waiting on pay settlements, all while DUP representatives get paid for obstructing others from doing their jobs.

“If this shameful subversion of democracy persists, it will merely demonstrate the veto system is no longer fit for purpose and should be swiftly abolished so those who want to do the job can get on with it on behalf of patients and health workers right across Northern Ireland.”