Manx Care: New health model 'improving patient care', minister says

Health Minister Lawrie Hooper said his department's relationship with Manx Care will change

The Isle of Man's new health service model is "on track" to deliver improvements in patient care, the health minister has said.

Manx Care took over the running of services in April 2021, leaving the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) to manage policy and regulation.

Lawrie Hooper said cuts in waiting lists would "not have happened as quickly under the old structure".

Private healthcare firms have been used to help reduce backlogs in some areas.

The move was made possible as the result of a £1.86m cash injection by the Treasury in July last year, some of which has been used to reduce waiting times for endoscopy and cataract procedures

Health inspections

Mr Hooper said one-year on from the creation of the arm's-length health and social care provider, the DHSC would start to develop a "less light touch regulatory approach", while helping it to achieve the "main objective of improving patient care".

"You do need to be able to enforce sometimes where there are issues and problems you cannot resolve in a partnership approach," Mr Hooper continued.

Inspections of the Manx health service by the UK's Care Quality Commission (CQC) would also help to bring an "independent perspective" on the delivery of healthcare on the island, he added.

The health department's Quality, Safety and Engagement team is due to take over inspection functions once the CQC has finished its work, with 36 staff roles responsible for regulation, which is more than half of the DHSC's current headcount.

Mr Hooper said despite the creation of Manx Care sitting, accountability for the health service would still sit with his department.

"When things go wrong, actually the first question should be what did the regulator do about this," he added.