New senior staff take on top Isle of Man Government roles

The appointments follow a number of resignations in the Department of Health and Social Care in 2022

Three new heads of departments within the Manx government have been appointed following a civil service shakeup.

It comes after a number of senior officers left government last year when a tribunal ruled a top medic was unfairly sacked for whistleblowing.

The chief minister then commissioned a review looking at how governance could be improved across departments.

Megan Mathias takes over the civil service's top job as chief operating officer in the Cabinet Office.

The new position follows a review of the role of the chief secretary, which was previously held by Will Greenhow who took early retirement last year.

Dr Mathias comes from working in the Cabinet Office in Jersey and will take up the role from November.

Megan Mathias becomes the Cabinet Office first chief operating officer

She said she was looking forward to "working with new colleagues on our delivery of public services to the Isle of Man community".

In the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), where there had been a number of senior staff resignations, Paul Richardson has been appointed as chief officer.

He was the deputy director of strategy for the UK's Department of Health and Social Care and was an incident director on the UK response to the coronavirus pandemic, a DHSC spokesman said.

Mr Richardson, who will take up the role from October, said he looked forward to delivering "the government's vision to provide the community with access to a comprehensive, high quality and fully integrated health and social care system".

Meanwhile Scott Gallacher has been appointed as the new chief officer for the Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture.

His previously held roles within the New Zealand government in areas including animal welfare, biosecurity, fisheries, food safety and forestry.