Manx Care, the new operational body charged with delivering health and care services in the island, will be launched in just under two weeks’ time.

It will go live after the Manx Care Act 2021 received Royal Assent and Tynwald approved an order establishing the organisation as a statutory body from April 1.

The government has described the creation of Manx Care as a ’historic separation’ of the Department of Health and Social Care’s current functions.

The change will see Manx Care focus on delivering a range of services to the public, operating at arm’s length from the DHSC which will be responsible for strategic direction setting, policy development, oversight and assurance.

The range and scope of services to be provided by Manx Care will be set out by the department each year in a high-level document known as the Mandate, the first of which was received by Tynwald last week.

Health Minister David Ashford said: ’After extensive research, consultation and planning over almost two years, the island’s new patient and service user-focused body is nearing its launch date.

This is a fundamental restructure in which DHSC will also change.

’Put simply, Manx Care will be purely focused on its core business of delivering a defined set of health and care services.

’Its operations will be distanced from the decision-making process and the mechanics of running a health and care system, in line with the model recommended by Sir Jonathan Michael in his landmark review of the island’s health and care services.’

He added: ’There will be no immediate change for residents after the launch of Manx Care, as they will continue to receive their care and treatment as they did before.’

Patient and service user representatives are being recruited, to ’ensure views and suggestions from the public are represented on a more formal basis than in the past’.