Background to the review

In March 2018 the Government announced that a fundamental review of the Island’s health and social care system was going to take place led by Sir Jonathan Michael.

Sir Jonathan Michael has extensive board, managerial and clinical experience in healthcare across both the public and private sectors. He has significant experience of supporting hospitals and other healthcare providers and advising governments, health departments and regulators both in the UK and internationally. He was knighted in 2005 for services to the NHS.

The terms of reference for the review were established by the Council of Ministers and Sir Jonathan was tasked with setting out recommendations to address the current and long-term health and social care challenges facing the Isle of Man.

The review's work built on the Department’s Five-Year Health and Social Care Strategy as well as a number of other reports, including the work of the West Midlands Quality Review Service. The review sought to identify why other initiatives had not worked and in order to set out what is required to ensure that its recommendations are implemented.

The Department is currently working to its Service Delivery Plan, which aims to address a number of your comments and ideas from public engagement sessions in January 2016, including the following that are already being progressed:

• Communication: publishing more on the Manx Care website, facilitating workshops on the future of residential and nursing care, working alongside Southern Community Initiatives around a Community Partnership pilot and working with residents and stakeholders through engagement events in the West
  
  
• Care in the Community: plans to introduce far more locally delivered care from teams based in the community
  
  
• Minimise waste: undertaking restructuring to reduce duplication and layers of management, including the formation of the Community Care Directorate, which combined four previous Divisions
  
  
• Technology: roll-out of Patient Access (for GP appointments, prescriptions and test results), text message reminders for GP appointments instead of letters and instant update of patients' electronic records following out of hours GP consultations