Noble’s Hospital’s emergency department is running with fewer members of staff than required and that was before sickness and absences.

Teresa Cope was appearing before a Tynwald committee when she was asked about staffing at Noble’s.

Ms Cope said that Manx Care has a business case for hiring more staff to improve levels.

She said: ‘One of the things that has been identified through the review of staffing, in line with the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, is that we are not staff to the required levels anyway.

So as well as the vacancy factor, as well as the sickness, we do not have the base staffing level that you’d expect and emergency department to have.

‘How I try to explain that is that Noble’s almost have to be the major trauma centre for the island, it is the only hospital and so we have to be able to respond to whatever we receive into that.

Whilst other emergency departments elsewhere might be able to configure their services slightly differently because they have a major trauma centre quite close, we don’t have that so it is important that we invest in getting safe staffing levels at Noble’s and continue the ability to make full use of the minor injury unit.’

Ms Cope added that Manx Care had listed £500,000 to bring emergency department up to safe staffing levels and is in the process of recruiting staff.