Further health care savings proposals not backed

The proposals aimed to make savings on top of £5m of cuts previously announced

Proposals for cuts to front-line services to make further savings in a bid to reduce a forecasted £16.8m health overspend will not be supported, the Council of Ministers has said.

The proposals included the temporary closure of several provisions such as wards at Noble's Hospital and the Manx Emergency Doctor Service (Meds).

Manx Care and the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) have been directed by the council to find other savings that "do not directly impact patients".

It comes as the chief minister has been called upon to help resolve a pay dispute between the health care provider and the British Medical Association (BMA).

The association recently confirmed doctors on the island would be balloted over strike action for the first time, after Manx Care said it could not commit to its requested 12.6% uplift for the 2023-24 pay award as it was "unaffordable".

In a letter to Alfred Cannan MHK, the BMA said ballot preparations were underway but a "window of opportunity to conclude an agreement and avoid industrial action" remained.

'Clear responsibility'

Last month, Manx Care announced £5m of wide-ranging cuts to services in an effort to balance its books.

After considering another raft of cost-saving proposals, government ministers said they could not be progressed "due to the impact of the measures and the risk of degradation to front-line services".

Cannan said: "No one wants to see frontline service provision diminished, but we also have a clear responsibility to deliver health and social care services within the allocated budget."

There would now be an "intense period of engagement" between the DHSC and Manx Care to "improve governance and realign the mandate and service provision" with the budget available for next year, he said

Chief executive of the health care provider Teresa Cope said it was "difficult, and at times complex" to "fully control" all aspects of health and social care spending.

But she said the organisation welcomed the opportunity presented to "improve the framework under which we operate".