Moves made to reinstate private health care services, minister says

The service would see procedures at Noble's Hospital and Ramsey Cottage Hospital

Steps are underway to reinstate private health care services at Noble's Hospital in 2024, the health minister has said.

The Private Patients' Unit at the hospital closed in 2019 for an upgrade.

Lawrie Hooper MHK confirmed Manx Care work with insurance providers and assessments on data sharing and billing systems was being carried out.

But he said if the health body wanted to run a private service there should be "no impact on NHS services".

Procedures could be offered at both Noble's and Ramsey Cottage Hospital, he said.

The former private ward at the Braddan facility has recently been used to reduce surgery waiting lists exacerbated by the pandemic.

'Core duty'

Mr Hooper told the House of Keys on Tuesday that work was underway with four private health insurance providers to "attain provider accreditation", which was needed for procedures to be carried out.

He said the information commissioner had approved the use of an official online billing and information sharing service for private practice following an assessment.

The health minister also confirmed work was in progress to provide private pharmacy provision to Manx Care for an orthopaedic pilot planned for 2024.

Mr Hooper said Manx Care was investigating running the services those already in place, considering the "potential of partnership arrangements".

Former health minister David Ashford MHK said there was a "risk of overlap" as one of the reasons the service was paused previously was because "staff from the private ward were being taken into NHS and vice versa".

Mr Hooper said the possibility would still exist as the provider would "probably be using same staff", but there should be no impact on NHS services, which were their "core duty".

While private services should generate some revenue for Manx Care, "the reality is they have to focus on NHS service", he added.

Why not follow BBC Isle of Man on Facebook and X? You can also send story ideas to [e-mail]