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Health Minister Mike Nesbitt travelled to Dublin yesterday 26 February for his first official meeting with the Irish Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, with cross-border healthcare initiatives topping the agenda.
The ministers held discussions at the Irish Department of Health focusing on strengthening healthcare collaboration between Northern Ireland and the Republic, before touring the site of Dublin's new Children's Hospital.
Key areas of cooperation discussed included the potential development of an all-island paediatric pathology service, workforce issues, health inequalities, and cancer cooperation.
A significant focus of the visit was the provision of paediatric cardiac surgery for Northern Ireland children at the new Dublin facility, which will transition from Crumlin Hospital once fully operational. Minister Nesbitt praised the progress of the hospital and extended his best wishes for the final development phases.
"This visit marks an important step in our commitment to ensuring the highest standard of care for all children, regardless of borders," said Minister Nesbitt. "Cross border collaboration in healthcare has long played a vital role in delivering specialist services that may not be viable on a single jurisdiction basis."
Minister Carroll MacNeill emphasised the value of cross-border cooperation, stating: "Given that we are facing similar challenges, working together is so important and it is a sensible approach to take."
The Dublin visit follows the recent announcement to build a new Children's Hospital in Belfast, with construction set to begin imminently. Both ministers welcomed the expansion of paediatric healthcare infrastructure across the island.
Minister Nesbitt's visit also included attendance at a North-South Ministerial Council Transport Sectoral meeting and a tour of St. Francis Hospice, where he met with representatives of the All-Ireland Institute of Hospice and Palliative Care to discuss ongoing all-island collaboration in palliative and end-of-life care.
