Plan to improve Manx Care's staff recruitment, treatment and pay

Manx Care's strategy aims to improve culture over the next three years

Improving the treatment of staff and regular pay reviews have been outlined as part of a new three-year plan to change the culture within Manx Care.

The Isle of Man's healthcare provider has published its People, Culture and Engagement Strategy.

Areas to be tackled include staff treatment, equality and diversity, recruitment and retention, skills development and health and wellbeing.

It comes after calls for a change in culture within the health service.

A survey of doctors by the British Medical Association earlier this year found 76% of those taking part did not feel the organisation had a positive culture.

And inspections by the Care Quality Commission last year reported a "toxic" culture in the accident and emergency department.

The culture in the Department of Health and Social Care, which previously ran the island's health services prior to the establishment of Manx Care in 2021, was also criticised by an employment tribunal which ruled the island's top medic had been unfairly dismissed for being a whistleblower.

Raise concerns

Under the new strategy, the health care body has committed to "periodically review pay scales" with equivalent UK roles and "formalise" its long service and retirement policy.

Manx Care said equality, diversity and inclusion "champions" would also be appointed to create "an environment where staff feel able to speak up and raise concerns".

In a bid improve recruitment and retention all employees would have a personal development plan and the exit interview process would be improved.

The plan also includes the redesigning the work experience programme to engage younger people in healthcare careers and improvements to on-island professional training.

A "skills audit" to produce a "skills gap analysis" is set to be carried out across the three-year programme.

Manx Care chief executive Teresa Cope said while some progress had already been made, there was "still a lot of work left to achieve".

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