The minister said he appreciated Mr Donaghy's "agreement to pass the baton to the new team".

BBC: Northern Health Trust boss Sean Donaghy to step aside

You can get all the press together, put on a tracksuit, try to pass the baton around and you'd understand the pressures and accuracy which is needed.

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The CQC, having identified and verified any problems, will pass the baton on to another regulator, called Monitor, who will be tasked to make sure trusts tackle failures in care.

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