More than £53,000 has been spent on a Douglas care home since it was acquired by the government in 2016.

In Tynwald, sacked minister Chris Thomas asked for details on what costs had been incurred in relation to the Salisbury Street nursing home.

The government-owned but privately-operated Salisbury Street care home opened in June 2017 when it was heralded as a way of tackling ’bed blocking’ at Noble’s Hospital.

Health Minister David Ashford told Tynwald it had been purchased for £7.9m exclusive of VAT, comprising £7.55m for the property and £350,000 for fixtures and fittings.

He said that over a period of several years a total of £53,104 had been spent on its conversion and operation, the biggest sum being £31,356 in 2017-18.

Figures released in a written reply to a Tynwald question from Mr Thomas show that the Salisbury Street care home has operated at full, or near full, capacity since at least June 2018.

The premises hit the headlines in May 2018 when a care operator called for a public inquiry into alleged ’mismanagement’ of taxpayers’ money.

Dave Murray, director of Adorn Domiciliary Care which won the tender to operate the home, claims the Department of Health and Social Care over-estimated demand for beds and that government never needed to buy the facility for £7.9m in the first place.

Mr Murray, who was part of the private consortium Salisbury Care Ltd that built the facility, revealed that the development cost £5.3m to £5.6m to build and so government paid over the odds for the home.

As part of the contract awarded to Adorn, 40 of the 68 beds were to be made available to those reliant on state benefits to fund their nursing care costs, in a move aimed at tackling bed-blocking at Noble’s.

But Mr Murray claimed in the event very few of people in this category came in yet the taxpayer still paid £812.10 a week for each bed whether they were full or not.

In Tynwald last week, members approved funding of up to £11.7m to build a new older persons’ residential and resource centre on the site of the former Glenside home on Victoria Road, Douglas, which was demolished in 2015.

The 60-bed facility called Summerhill View will replace Reayrt ny Baie on Albert Terrace which is deemed no longer fit for purpose as it does not comply with the national minimum care standards.

Mr Ashford said it was ’not a moment too soon’ for those residents in Reayrt ny Baie.

Mr Thomas called for the matter to be referred to a select committee, arguing that demand for residential care facilities is falling.

But his amendment failed to carry and Tynwald unanimously approved the £11.7m funding for Summerhill View.