SDLP Opposition Health Spokesperson Colin McGrath MLA has said the Executive must make addressing the health crisis its top priority.

He was speaking after Health Minister Mike Nesbitt committed to raising the situation at this week’s Executive meeting at an emergency meeting of the Assembly's Health Committee on Tuesday.

Mr McGrath said it was the responsibility of the whole Executive to address the pressures on hospitals across the North.

South Down MLA Mr McGrath said:

“To call this emergency meeting of the Health Committee was misguided given the situation our health service has been dealing with in recent weeks. Executive parties wanted to use this meeting to give themselves cover and make it appear they are doing something about the current crisis. Health staff have been angered by this posturing, and rightly so.

"The Executive was warned in November that the health service was not prepared for winter pressures, and they did nothing to address this. Staff have looked to the Executive for leadership, while providing the expert insight into the lived reality of our health service at present. The Executive sat on their hands and have displayed a derogation of duty and failed our healthcare staff and patients.

"Today’s committee meeting fixated on the Executive parties doing their best to point the finger of blame at the Health Minister, all the while trying to exonerate their own parties’ complicity in this latest failure. It is totally lacking credibility for the other Executive parties to try and wash their hands of this, it is the Finance Minister who funds our health service and the health and wellbeing of people in Northern Ireland is a matter for the entire Executive.

“I welcome the Minister’s move to make the flu jab more widely available and his commitment to raise these issues at the Executive this week, following repeated calls from the SDLP Opposition. We must hear concrete plans around a way forward. The Executive cannot allow this situation to deteriorate further with disastrous consequences for patients and health staff.”