Niamh Griffin , journalist Dublin, Republic of Ireland niamh.griffin21{at}gmail.com

Two years since the devolved administration collapsed, Niamh Griffin finds “a huge hiatus in health,” including ballooning waiting lists, growing staff shortages, and stalled hospital reform

Northern Ireland has been without a government since the collapse of a coalition in January 2017; one doctor says wryly that, in the two years since, the profession has learnt that the only thing worse than having politicians is not having politicians.

In September, Westminster’s Northern Ireland secretary Karen Bradley cut the pay of the devolved Northern Ireland Assembly’s elected members, in an effort to pressure them to conclude power sharing talks and return to work—but there is still no resolution in sight (see box).

“If doctors failed to turn up for work, they would stop paying us,” says Tom Black, chair of the BMA’s Northern Ireland Council. “If politicians are failing to work at their profession, there should be sanctions.”

Health policy experts, doctors, and other healthcare professionals warn of a “huge hiatus in health” as a result of the power vacuum in Stormont.