I think we're talking about different things, what I meant is that I created a new character in the party screen, then removed the healer from the party (I didnt know he was a healer), then put that new character in its place. That new character is "blank" - at least mine was, he had zero skills to put... and I had to give him weapons, etc...
I fixed my "problem" by putting back the healer, deleting the new character, and then just renaming / customising the healer. All is well now.