Emergency department space 'not fit for purpose'

The emergency department building at the island's main hospital is no longer "fit for purpose" and does not have enough space to meet increasing demand, health chiefs have said.

Manx Care chief executive Teresa Cope said the wing at Noble's Hospital has been "right and appropriate" when constructed 22 years ago but its footprint was now "too small overall".

She said the creation of a new emergency department had therefore "really increased up the priority list" for future capital investment.

At the health care body's annual public meeting it was confirmed its overspend for the 2024-25 year was £15.61m more than it's £347m budget.

In January it was revealed that the number of people attending the emergency department at the Isle of Man's main hospital had increased by almost 35% over the last decade.

During the yearly presentation, Ms Cope said the space did not meet "current standards" or "offer the right environment for children, anybody with a learning disability or for anybody with a mental health crisis".

She also said despite it being a "relatively small emergency department" it had to function as a major trauma centre because of the "uniqueness" of the island and "the types of of injuries we see here that mean we're not always able to fly an emergency patient straight off the island".

Executive director of health services Oliver Radford said the area was "about 35% of the size" required compared to the number of people who attended.

He also said there were "multiple areas of risk" surrounding the replacement of equipment for "both hospital and out of hospital services".

He told the meeting some pieces of equipment had been brand new when the facility opened in 2003, so it was now "going out of date at around the same time" as the space.

In the coming year, Manx Care would concentrate on developing a "comprehensive capital asset programme" with Treasury and the Department of Health and Social Care, he said.

That was because the "last thing that we want is for patient waiting times to be extended" due to equipment going out of service, he added.

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