Coulter warns of Health Budget Shortfall
Rev Dr Robert Coulter, the Ulster Unionist Party Assembly member for North Antrim and UUP Stormont Commissioner, has warned the community could suffer because not enough money has been earmarked for health in the recently unveiled Programme for Government spending proposals.
Assemblyman Dr Coulter, who is also UUP Health Spokesman, made his remarks after chairing a health discussion panel at this year’s party conference in Belfast.
He added: “At first reading the full Programme for Government package runs to some £5.6 billion on schools, roads and hospitals – but the contribution for the health department is lower than the other departments in needs terms.
“The Ulster Unionist Party is disappointed with the proposed spending on health. It needed to be much higher given the fact people in Northern Ireland are living much longer.
“We required a radical budget for health; one which had quality as a central theme. Instead, the people of the Province have been allocated a budget which won’t do what those people require.
“The health budget for Northern Ireland is being seriously underfunded. We are between 25 per cent and 30 per cent lower than our counterparts in Great Britain.
“In practical terms, the draft budget will do nothing to drive down the waiting lists. Some £450 million has been allocated to health, when in reality, around £750 million is required because people live longer.
“The cash allocated to health in the Programme for Government is only dabbling with the health service. Being behind in health spending is one of the great injustices of Northern Ireland politics and makes our people second class citizens within the United Kingdom.
“As people live longer, we need to recognise that older people would like to be cared for at home – not in hospitals.
“The Programme for Government also needs to recognise that Northern Ireland will not be able to look after the most vulnerable groups in our society, especially the elderly, by cutting back on nurses.
“At one time, Northern Ireland had some of the worst waiting times in Western Europe. The Programme for Government budget should have addressed the urgent issue of investing in health. You can’t have wealth without health,” said Assemblyman Dr Coulter.