Photo: (l-r) Adrian Tomkinson (Wellbeing Partnership Manager – Manx Care), Wiktoria Bartlett (Southern Wellbeing Partnership Referral Co-Ordinator – Manx Care), Hon. Lawrie Hooper MHK, Minister for the Department of Health and Social Care
The Island’s second Wellbeing Partnership was officially opened yesterday morning by Health and Social Care Minister, Lawrie Hooper MHK.
The Southern Wellbeing Partnership will be the hub for the provision of integrated community care for residents living within the catchment area of the three GP Practices in the south of the Island (Southern Group Practice, Ballasalla Medical Centre and Castletown Medical Centre). The Southern Wellbeing Centre is based in Thie Rosien in Port Erin (adjacent to the Southern Group Practice and Southlands Resource Centre). It follows the launch of the Island’s first Wellbeing Partnership in the West (Peel) in February 2020, with further centres in development in the North (Ramsey) and the East of the Island.
The Wellbeing Partnership Model has been developed by Manx Care to establish a new way of working with Third Sector organisations to deliver a seamless and efficient person-centred, multi-agency health and social care service through a single point of referral. This will deliver better outcomes for Manx residents by ensuring better co-ordination of health and social care services closer to their homes that meet their needs, and that are focused on helping people to maintain their independence within the community. The Partnership will also act as a confidential signposting service for people where required.
Minister Hooper commented:
“The launch of the Wellbeing Partnership model is a really exciting opportunity to ensure that people who need access to health and social care services can receive this closer to their homes, and I’d like to thank everyone within the Manx Care Wellbeing Partnership team and all of the third sector organisations based at Thie Rosien for the significant amount of hard work they’ve invested in getting to this point. I know they’ll make a positive difference to people living in the South of the Island.
“Our health and care system is undergoing a widespread programme of transformation which will ultimately result in improved access to community-based health and social care services for people living across the Island, reducing reliance on services traditionally provided in a hospital-based environment. Whilst this transformation will take some time to achieve, the Wellbeing Partnerships mark a really positive start towards this.”
The Southern Wellbeing Partnership will have a permanent presence at Thie Rosien in Port Erin, with a counter service initially for one day a week in Ballasalla (at the Malew Parish Commissioners’ Office on the Main Road), and one day a month in Castletown (at the Town Commissioners in the Civic Centre on Farrants Way). It’s hoped this will also increase to become a weekly service early in the New Year. The service will continue to be developed in line with community feedback.
The Wellbeing Partnership model represents a blueprint for the Isle of Man in the way Manx Care will work to deliver health and social care services collaboratively with its partners in the Third Sector, and in line with the recommendations made by Sir Jonathan Michael in his independent review into the provision of health and social care.
