IOM DHSC & MANX CARE

[Jarndyce]

15 minutes ago, Auntie Depressant said:

I wonder if any of the multiple civil servants will be giving similar insights to saving money? 

I’m guessing…no.

[Apple]

The weekly theatre planning meeting is leading on improving theatre utilisation by challenging surgeons to make the best use of the theatre list time allocated to them.

Thats a part of the Manx Care statement that probably needs some further explanation. I can't believe this why patients have to wait longer because Manx Care see a problem and have not dealt with it already. 

[Omobono]

21 minutes ago, Auntie Depressant said:

It’s good the medics are speaking up and offering an alternative strategy based on front line experience. I wonder if any of the multiple civil servants will be giving similar insights to saving money? 

imagine making this decision without consulting the medics !      thats the allegation made by them on Manx radio this morning , where it was quoted the first the doctors heard of the proposed money saving meaures and cuts in surgery  were on manx radio news , what a way to run a health service  , if manx care had a better relationship with those delivering the health care  at the coal face  I am sure they could suggest many ways to cut cost and make savings 

time Hooper grew a pair and started to do the job he is being paid to do 

[Two-lane]

34 minutes ago, Apple said:

The weekly theatre planning meeting is leading on improving theatre utilisation by challenging surgeons to make the best use of the theatre list time allocated to them.

I also noted that sentence, but because of the use of the word "challenging". Its meaning is adversarial or provocative, rather than cooperative.

But probably the word was used because it is very popular amongst management-types at the moment. Along with the word "change".

 

[code99]

Once upon a time (not so long ago) becoming a medical professional was something people did because they felt it was their ‘calling’. I know this to be so from a personal experience – I grew up in a family of doctors. My parents never felt that the public or their patients ever owed them any special gratitude for the treatments they provided. Similarly, my family were never motivated by financial rewards and or the prestige that being a doctor give you – what motivated them was the desire to help people and sometimes to save their lives. When, late in his career, my father, moved from being a hands-on practitioner into a senior management/ CEO role, he successfully combined his medical skills with his strong numerical and administrative skills, but in this role he never lost his compassion for his fellow human beings. Whilst fulfilling his financial responsibility, he also never lost sight of the primary purpose of any health service which is to provide effective and kind care for patients. IMHO, the modern prevailing dogma that the administrative roles are interchangeable between industries is false. Healthcare, education, arts and culture are people centric ‘ologies’ that should only be run by people who are able to empathise with others, and never by petty bureaucrats .  

When eminent healthcare professionals like Dr Sean Crerand and Dr Prakash Thiagarajan raise the sorts of concerns that they have, the public and the politicians, especially the Health Minister, must pay thoughtful attention to what is being said. E.g., in the audio clip Dr Prakash Thiagarajan suggested that the proposed savings of circa £220k could be achieved through freezing the recruitment of four Medical Directors (Manx Care is offering salaries in excess of £150k):

https://www.manxradio.com/news/isle-of-man-news/plans-to-reduce-surgery-lists-will-exacerbate-waiting-lists/   

“Reducing elective surgery is not a cost saving but a deferred cost which in time will likely be higher because morbidity increases with time and so surgery becomes more challenging, adding to cost inflation and may form justification for further outsourcing to for-profit companies such as Synaptik.”

It is obvious that dealing with any kind of problem (sicknesses included) when it is small is always much more sensible and cost effective that ignoring it and having to deal with it later when it gets so bad that it is unavoidable.   

It must surely be clear to the Manx public that Manx Care has created costly additional administrative infrastructure that is not warranted for a country with a population of just 85,000 people. How the Treasury Minister, who is a doctor himself, cannot see what is being proposed will result in a fiasco, is utterly mindboggling, IMHO.

Edited Friday at 04:33 AM by code99
typo

[Jarndyce]

29 minutes ago, code99 said:

in the audio clip Dr Prakash Thiagarajan suggested that the proposed savings of circa £220k could be achieved through freezing the recruitment of four Medical Directors (Manx Care is offering salaries in excess of £150k

Four Directors - but only one Medical Director.

The others are: Director of Nursing; Director of People (?); and Director of Quality and Safety.

[cissolt]

31 minutes ago, Jarndyce said:

Four Directors - but only one Medical Director.

The others are: Director of Nursing; Director of People (?); and Director of Quality and Safety.

I wonder how much it cost to pay the last medical director to work in the UK for 3 years? Was the interim being paid the full medical director rate while she was acting up?

[Non-Believer]

2 hours ago, Auntie Depressant said:

I wonder if any of the multiple civil servants will be giving similar insights to saving money? 

They don't have to, the NI Fund is being raided to keep them in the style to which they're accustomed.

[Andy Onchan]

31 minutes ago, Jarndyce said:

Four Directors - but only one Medical Director.

The others are: Director of Nursing; Director of People (?); and Director of Quality and Safety.

https://www.gov.im/media/1385016/202205_manxcare_structurechart_0824_mini-august-final-version-uploaded-050824_compressed.pdf

It would appear two out of three are being covered by Interims, Nursing & People (although the medical director position is confusing, on one slide it says interim and on others not). From the charts it doesn't show a vacant position anywhere for Quality & Safety, which is a bit worrying. Plenty of people on various quality committees but no executive director. 

Will the interims be paid as if they were permanent positions? If so, then the costs for those are already included. So no saving there. If they're not being paid the full whack but are offered the positions then it's just the difference between what they're being paid now and the pay for the actual position. But it's hard to tell where those people would fit into the charts if they weren't interims.

[Jarndyce]

3 minutes ago, Andy Onchan said:

Will the interims be paid as if they were permanent positions? If so, then the costs for those are already included. So no saving there. If they're not being paid the full whack but are offered the positions then it's just the difference between what they're being paid now and the pay for the actual position. But it's hard to tell where those people would fit into the charts if they weren't interims

You should get in touch with Dr Prakash Thiagarajan before his next radio interview - make sure he understands the position vis-a-vis savings…

[Vaaish]

57 minutes ago, Jarndyce said:

Four Directors - but only one Medical Director.

The others are: Director of Nursing; Director of People (?); and Director of Quality and Safety.

I think it very likely that the Director of Nursing would be a qualified senior nurse, no doubt accountable for nursing standards. I’m not at all sure I’d be comfortable with ‘freezing’ recruitment of such a post. 

[Jarndyce]

3 minutes ago, Vaaish said:

I think it very likely that the Director of Nursing would be a qualified senior nurse, no doubt accountable for nursing standards. I’m not at all sure I’d be comfortable with ‘freezing’ recruitment of such a post

I wouldn’t disagree.   I’m guessing the docs were just demonstrating that Manx Care/DHSC have other options apart from cutting frontline services, if they were only prepared to look for them.

[Vaaish]

3 minutes ago, Jarndyce said:

I wouldn’t disagree.   I’m guessing the docs were just demonstrating that Manx Care/DHSC have other options apart from cutting frontline services, if they were only prepared to look for them.

This comes back to the observation I made recently about a ‘batting order’ of potential savings. I don’t think freezing this particular recruitment as anywhere near viable. If I or one of my loved ones was being admitted to Noble’s and posed the question ‘Who is ultimately accountable for the standard of nursing care that I will receive’ to then be told ‘Well it should be the Director of Nursing but actually we don’t have one, and won’t be recruiting’ I’d be taken aback. Frankly, I’m rather stunned that senior doctors would ever suggest such a thing. 

[Moghrey Mie]

37 minutes ago, Andy Onchan said:

https://www.gov.im/media/1385016/202205_manxcare_structurechart_0824_mini-august-final-version-uploaded-050824_compressed.pdf

It would appear two out of three are being covered by Interims, Nursing & People (although the medical director position is confusing, on one slide it says interim and on others not). From the charts it doesn't show a vacant position anywhere for Quality & Safety, which is a bit worrying. Plenty of people on various quality committees but no executive director. 

Will the interims be paid as if they were permanent positions? If so, then the costs for those are already included. So no saving there. If they're not being paid the full whack but are offered the positions then it's just the difference between what they're being paid now and the pay for the actual position. But it's hard to tell where those people would fit into the charts if they weren't interims.

Is Kevin Lawless (Engagement and Communication) related to Jackie Lawless (Finance, Performance and Delivery) also on the Board?

[TheTeapot]

Consider this tweet.