Isle of Man Government – Have your say on principles for the future of the health service

The public is being asked to comment on some of the key topics of the new Health and Care Services Bill, such as the right to choice and privacy.

this Health and Care Services Act advice Input will be gathered on policy principles covering four main areas – service planning, record sharing, service improvement and patient empowerment.

Currently, three main pieces of legislation set out how healthcare services are delivered, but these are not working as well as they should. In addition, there are loopholes that could limit service delivery and the care available to current and future residents.

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) wants to replace the existing fragmented laws with one comprehensive Health and Care Services Bill.

Some of the items in the consultation may look familiar as they have already been researched by the Isle of Man Care Centre and the Health and Wellness Service as ‘best practice’. However, enshrining these matters in law through the new Bill will provide better protection, ensuring that the rights of service users are protected and views are appropriately considered.

The consultation asked what should be the priority when making decisions about health and care – whether location, accessibility or value for money is most important for patients and service users.

It also asked for views on the sharing of patient records between different services and providers, following feedback from patients and service users that they were frustrated when receiving treatment from multiple clinics or off-island providers.

Other sections explore preferred ways of contributing to service development and how best to empower patients and service users to make their own decisions.

It is hoped that the resulting principles will support the provision of enhanced integrated services for all patients and service users, recognising that physical, social and mental health care are symbiotic.

Minister for Health and Social Care Lawrie Hooper MHK said:

“We will all be affected by health and care needs at some stage in our lives and, as Sir Jonathan Michael highlighted in 2019, our current legislation needs reform. It is vital that we remain flexible and effective, and promote different ways of working together to deliver high-quality care now and in the future.

“We want to replace three pieces of legislation with one fully functional, modern bill because the three pieces of legislation don’t work together as well as we would like. Developing this legislation will be a fairly lengthy process, so we are breaking it down into five stages.

“This is the first phase, and we’re asking the public to help us develop the big principles that will underpin the whole effort – telling us what the preferred service looks like in terms of privacy, location and preferences.”

The five phases of the new bill cover policy principles, social security, health care, cross-cutting issues (such as protecting the Isle of Man health insurance from fraud) and more “miscellaneous issues” such as research and development, private services and complaints. Work has already begun on social security and health care, with the remaining phases scheduled to be completed over the next 12 months.

Have your say on the Phase 1 principles via the online consultation centreor pick up a paper copy at the Welcome Center, or request a copy and response by email, available at Grace.Phillips2@gov.im.

The consultation will close at midnight on 7 October 2024.