Call for review of patient hotel allowance

An MHK has called for a review of allowances for patients who have to travel to Liverpool for specialist treatment after the introduction of a "tourist tax" in June.

Earlier this year hoteliers voted to approve a £2 overnight charge for staying in the city in a bid generate millions to support the hospitality industry.

Sarah Maltby said Manx patients should be exempt because a clinician had recommended they travel for care so they were "not visiting out of choice".

Health Minister Claire Christian said, while she acknowledged the additional cost, there was "no clear evidence" that patients were being "disproportionately impacted".

Christian said she also believed that "no barriers to accessing essential NHS services had occurred" as a result of the charge.

Manx patients, some of who are allowed to take a companion, travelling to Liverpool for care that cannot be provided on the island currently receive £50 per person per night via the patient transfer scheme.

They are treated in institutions such as the Royal Liverpool University Hospital and Clatterbridge Cancer Centre.

The newly-introduced charge was voted for by members of the city's Accommodation Business Improvement District in a ballot.

Maltby said it was unfair that Manx patients, already under stress, should have to field the supplement and it had been an "unintended consequence" of the change.

She said those receiving treatment and their companions should not have to "pick up the tab" and called for an exemption "to ensure people aren't being penalised".

Carole Male, who runs the Isle of Man Patient Transfer Facebook page and is vice president of the Mannin Cancers charity, said the charge should not be allowed to affect our patients, and it it did "then the allowance should surely be raised to cover it".

She said the current offer "often does not cover their costs", which could leave "patients in a very difficult position at an extremely difficult time".

In a response a written question by Maltby on the matter, the health minister also confirmed an assessment of accommodation allowances paid to patients for stays in the UK is to be reviewed by the Department of Health and Social Care.

The results are set to be published in July 2026.

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