Manx Care: Additional £10m approved to cover health overspend

Lawrie Hooper said health services were already about £9m over budget for 2021-22

Additional funding of up to £10m to cover the cost of an overspend in health care on the Isle of Man has been approved by Tynwald.

Health Minister Lawrie Hooper said it was due to rising drug prices, off-island treatment, and higher than planned pay awards.

It is the seventh consecutive year that health services have been over budget.

However, Mr Hooper said a new funding model for 2022-23 should bring that to an end.

A £1m shortfall in a £2.7m savings target set for Manx Care, due to the impact of Covid on implementing savings measures, has also contributed to the overspend, he said.

Mr Hooper told Tynwald the health care provider, which was formally established in April, was "continuing to go through a period of challenge and change" but was "fully committed" to balancing its books next year.

Pay award

A total of more than £21m in additional funding for health was set out in the treasury minister's latest budget, including £8.25m to be drawn down from the interest from the National Insurance Fund.

About £6.6m of that is earmarked to be set aside as an internal contingency for the forthcoming year.

Outlining the overspend, Mr Hooper said there had been a significant increase in spending on drugs, particularly those for cancer, due to the impact of Brexit and Covid on prices, leading to a rise of £2.6m above budget.

The "volatility" of the cost of sending patients to UK hospitals for treatment was another factor, equating to £2.6m more than planned.

Another significant contributor to the overspend was pay awards above the 1% budgeted for in the current year.

Mr Hooper said the total impact would be an additional £3.7m, including a proposed 4% rise for some staff which is currently being disputed, which it was "simply not possible to find" in the existing budget.