Cross-border Healthcare

Robin Swann Excerpts

Tuesday 4th November 2025 Westminster Hall

[Robin Swann (South Antrim) (UUP)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Dowd. I congratulate the hon. Member for Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe (David Chadwick) on securing a debate on cross-border healthcare, because we in Northern Ireland know only too well that health outcomes are not, and should not be, defined by borders—whether an internal UK border or one with an entirely separate sovereign jurisdiction. Sickness does not discriminate.

In fact, as the only part of the United Kingdom to share a land boundary with another nation, the issue of cross-border healthcare is something on which every Northern Irish MP, I am sure, will have an opinion. Despite our constitutional sensitivities, I for one have absolutely no hesitation in saying that I am deeply proud of the progress we have made in cross-border healthcare in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. The progress in recent decades has shown what can be achieved when we actually work together with a shared purpose.

I take note of what other hon. Members have said about the challenges across an internal UK border, which I believe we should not have in healthcare. Despite that, in Northern Ireland we need only to look at the success of the radiotherapy unit at our hospital in Altnagelvin, and more widely the north-west cancer centre based in Londonderry. Those services demonstrate the tangible benefits of co-operation for patients and communities from both sides of the border.

When I was Health Minister in 2021, I was pleased to come together with the Governments of Ireland and the United States of America to sign a new memorandum of understanding to reinvigorate the Ireland-Northern Ireland-US National Cancer Institute cancer consortium, which is an often forgotten and unsung part of the negotiations of the ’98 Belfast agreement. When it comes to cancer, we should leave no stone unturned. There are undoubtedly people on both sides of the border who are alive today because of that practical and sensible co-operation. By continuing to refine that service level agreement, expanding areas such as skin cancer treatment, and deepening our joint research in clinical trials, Northern Ireland will once again be strengthening cancer services and helping to advance the fight against rare and specialist cancers across the island.

The same collaborative spirit is exemplified in paediatric cardiac care. Our all-island congenital heart disease network—an issue to which my family is as close as we can be—has ensured that children with complex needs can access world-class treatment without unnecessary delay or travel. I have seen at first hand that such cross-border co-operation works. Our youngest son was eight months old when he needed his first open-heart surgery, and that was conducted at Birmingham children’s hospital. He was 10 years old when he needed his pacemaker replaced, but that was done in the children’s hospital in Dublin because of that cross-border work. We in Northern Ireland know all too well about our reliance on the working relationships that we have across borders, should that be across the UK or with our partners in the Republic of Ireland.

[Jamie Stone]

The hon. Gentleman may know that I have family living in the north, in Armagh and Antrim, and a daughter living in Donegal. What he says is absolutely correct—I can vouch for that, and it is an example for us all. When somebody is sick and we are worried about what will happen next, we do not care about lines on maps. The point I want to make is this: it strikes me that this is an easy issue for the present Government, because it need not cost lots of money. Often, we ask for stuff and there is a huge bill attached, but just knocking heads together and saying, “Get real. Get the computer system online. Talk to each other,” is doable, and it would make such a difference for people even up as far north as where I represent.

[Robin Swann]

I thank the hon. Member for raising a valid point that comes to the crux of this debate and of what has been said by every Member so far. It is about putting the “national” back in our national health service, and doing so across borders without the unnecessary bureaucracy that often comes with how we look after our patients.

There is still more to do on this issue, and no system is perfect. I know from engaging with our current Health Minister in Northern Ireland, my party colleague, that there is potential for further north-south co-operation in other specialist paediatric services that lend themselves to an all-island approach, including the hugely emotive and sensitive issue of perinatal and paediatric pathology. Northern Ireland has been without a paediatric pathologist for some time, so an all-island solution should be looked at.

As the hon. Member said, ambulances in Northern Ireland regularly cross the border in both directions to save lives. Our two ambulance services have an agreement in place to provide mutual aid, with personnel from either service able to cross the border to assist in emergencies.

I believe that the future of healthcare will be defined by the digital innovation that has been referred to, and it will be a great step forward when we can get the national health services talking to each other—it is only recently that we have been able to get our five trusts in Northern Ireland sharing digital information. The will is there if the finance and support are there on genomic medicine, workforce planning and the interoperability of electronic health records. By collaborating on the genomics of rare disease and planning jointly for a workforce that can identify and close future gaps in work, we can ensure that the entire island—and islands—benefit from technological and medical advances.

Our co-operation should not just be practical; it should actually improve outcomes. It is proof that where health is concerned, cross-border partnerships really work. I encourage the Minister to take forward the recommendations made in this debate today.

[Several hon. Members rose—]