A former health minister has labelled the Mandate to Manx Care as possibly the “biggest assault on NHS care the island has ever seen”.
Former Health Minister Lawrie Hooper was reacting to the publication of the mandate which outlines likely longer waiting times and increased charges.
Mr Hooper, who previously accused the Chief Minister of wanting to privatise the health service, said the document was “absolutely disgraceful”.
He added: “A clearly stated intention to cut NHS services and push people towards ‘private options’ – coupled with drastic and dangerous reductions in front line services across the board.
“I’ll be going through these documents with a fine tooth comb but on a first read they look to represent the biggest assault on NHS care the island has ever seen.
“I strongly encourage people to read these documents and contact your MHK.”
Private
The mandate sets out plans to make “changes to prescription eligibility criteria” and increasing private healthcare income.
The document states that “an additional £1.1m could be generated if dental charges and exemptions were harmonised to the equivalent NHS England policy”.
It also highlights that prescription charges and exemptions “have not kept pace with equivalent NHS England policy”, suggesting further increases may be considered.
The mandate also lists continuing to work with the DHSC to “understand where offering private services would be of most benefit to patients” as one of its objectives and says “we will expand private diagnostic, elective services and commercial opportunities to supplement funding”.
It says this will be used to “re-invest in Manx Care public health and care services”.
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