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Manx medic's unfair dismissal raises concerns, chief minister says

BBC Chief Minister Alfred CannanBBC
Chief Minister Alfred Cannan said government staff "should be able challenge"

A tribunal's ruling that a whistleblower was unfairly dismissed has raised "concerning" questions about the culture within the Manx government, the chief minister has said.

The tribunal found Dr Rosalind Ranson was undermined and excluded for speaking out about a failure to pass Covid-19 advice to ministers.

Alfred Cannan said public sector staff "should be able to challenge".

He said questions were also raised about leadership and management.

Dr Ranson raised a number of issues between April 2020 and March 2021 including concerns over patient safety, governance, and failures within the DHSC to pass on expert advice to ministers to shut borders sooner.

The Employment and Equality tribunal report said she was "made to feel not wanted" and ultimately sacked.

The tribunal also highlighted "troubling issues" around document disclosure and reliability of government witnesses.

IOMGOV Dr Rosalind RansonIOMGOV
Dr Rosalind Ranson said the ruling was a "victory for whistleblowing"

Mr Cannan said the "government's culture must be one of openness, respect and accountability".

The public "must be assured" that the public sector is "working effectively from the highest levels down", he added.

The tribunal report said former Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) chief executive Kathryn Magson was "evasive" in her evidence, adding the director of Public Health Dr Henrietta Ewart displayed "unreasonable malice" in the witness box.

It also raised concerns that evidence like texts message, emails and other documents had been wiped, not disclosed or passed on late by the government during proceedings and it said that would be addressed in a future hearing.

Mr Cannon said the findings raised "a number of concerning broader questions about the culture within the Isle of Man Government as well as the quality of leadership and the management of performance".

Though the matter was still under "ongoing judicial consideration", he said he would make a statement in Tynwald next week.

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