Health Minister Kate Beecroft has voiced her concern about changes to accommodation for Isle of Man patients travelling to the new Royal Liverpool Hospital.

The Royal Liverpool is set to move to a new £335m site next year and it will mean the current accommodation service will end.

Mrs Beecroft admitted: ’Whilst, overall, the new hospital should be seen as a welcome development that should provide improved patient experience for our population that uses it, I am concerned about the difficulties that patients and their families may face in the future and will be keeping the situation under review.’

The Minister was asked in Tynwald what the arrangements for family accommodation would be during the relocation to the new hospital.

She revealed: ’We have expressed our concerns to the trust and have been advised that all rooms in the new hospital are single rooms but that recliners are available to relatives for them to stay overnight with their relatives.

’The trust has been asked for more detail on this in terms of numbers and their availability, and I am waiting for a response.’

The accommodation currently used by many Manx patients and families attending the Royal Liverpool Hospital is in a budget hotel called Royal Chambers - in a stand-alone facility called the Hillsborough Suite, which is run and leased by the hospital from a private landlord. It has six rooms for patients or their families.

’Patients and their families have benefited from this service and it is, quite rightly, highly valued,’ Mrs Beecroft said. ’Unfortunately, we have been told that, at some point in the future, the suite will close.

’I had been advised that the lease held by the trust was due to expire imminently. However, it has been extended until such a time that the new hospital is ready, and so will be available to Manx patients and their relatives until then.’

The Royal Chambers will still be available after the move, but patients will have to book directly. Rooms will no longer be kept for the sole use of patients and their families.

Mrs Beecroft added: ’There will be alternative accommodation available for Manx patients and relatives, should they wish to book it, at the trust’s Broadgreen site, although obviously that is less convenient than staying in the city centre.

’Patients and their families will be able to book other accommodation, as now, and claim back up to £28 towards the cost. ’

The new hospital had been due to open this summer, but construction was delayed following the discovery of asbestos on the new site. It is due to be handed over to the trust in February, with first patients expected three months later.