Manx Care is to begin to reduce waiting lists across a further seven clinical specialisms.

The news comes after its announcements to tackle waiting lists for cataract assessment and treatment.

Private health company Medefer will provide telemedicine outpatient appointments online to a number of patients waiting for assessment if they are classed as being eligible for this treatment option, and if they provide their consent for this to happen.

The clinical specialisms that will be covered under the Medefer deal with Manx Care are cardiology, ENT (ear, nose and throat), gastroenterology, respiratory medicine, pain management, orthopaedics and routine dermatology referrals.

Patients who are eligible, and who have consented to have their consultations delivered virtually, will be contacted by Manx Care soon and offered the choice of seeing a Medefer NHS specialist to expedite their treatment.

Manx Care says not every individual patient on the waiting lists across these specialisms will be suitable to have their assessments given virtually, given that some of them will require assessment in person by a specialist in an outpatient clinic at Noble’s Hospital.

Manx Care says it has worked with the Isle of Man’s information commissioner to ensure that a patient’s personal data remains protected and the appropriate patient consent is put in place.

This treatment will be free at the point of care.

Medefer’s specialist consultants, all of whom are practising NHS consultants, will review the patient referral and then might:

- Refer the patient into the outpatient department directly at Noble’s Hospital with a risk-rated assessment of their condition

- Advance the patient’s care by speaking with them directly to gain more information on their condition, or by requesting additional tests and investigations in line with Manx Care’s clinical pathways

- Refer the patient back to their GP if their treatment and planned care can be managed and delivered in the community or a primary care setting

For these patients, a specialist can manage their condition remotely, including organising any face-to-face investigations or diagnostic tests that may be required in a hospital setting.

Medefer’s technology enables NHS specialists to work more efficiently, and also support the NHS backlog recovery efforts across the UK by working remotely.

The additional capacity this provides means that those patients who need to see a specialist at a face-to-face appointment will have a shorter waiting time than may have otherwise been feasible.

Teresa Cope, chief executive of Manx Care, said: ’Establishing a working partnership with Medefer is not only an important part of our plan to reduce waiting lists across a number of clinical specialisms, but an important part of our broader elective restoration and rRecovery programme.

’The Covid-19 pandemic highlighted that there is very much a place for the use of virtual models of care delivery when appropriate to do so and, in many cases, we were reliant on this method of assessment during lockdown.

’Many patients have a condition whereby they don’t need to attend an appointment at an outpatient clinic for physical assessment, and so having their specialist appointment conducted virtually is not only faster for them, but increases the number of appointments available to those people who do need to come in for a face-to-face appointment.

’I hope Manx residents feel reassured that we’re taking appropriate steps to reduce our waiting lists and provide them with the specialist assessment they have been waiting a long time for.’