Mike Nesbitt is our new health minister and should be given a chance to prove his credentials. It’s early days but so far, he has ditched the funereal tone of his predecessor and adopted a more can-do attitude. But warm words butter no parsnips. It cannot be a case of a new name on the door but business as usual.

So how might the new minister go about demonstrating that he has what it takes to address the myriad of issues in his in-tray?

Firstly, and it is hard to overstate this point, he must avoid the temptation to address longstanding issues with reactive short-term measures merely aimed at reducing expenditure. These are extremely unlikely to deliver sustainable improvements and will further damage staff morale. A key challenge is to reduce waste, avoid duplication, make the most of the substantial available resources while maximising outcomes. Do we really need five trusts and an ambulance trust and now the nonsensical area planning boards?

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