Some elective surgeries have been cancelled at Noble’s Hospital because of ’bed pressures’ and ’workforce challenges’.

Manx Care has said it’s facing staffing shortages for its elective surgery programme.

According to a statement from the organisation, this isn’t exclusive to the Isle of Man but NHS Trusts across the UK have faced similar problems.

It said: ’We’re facing a number of staffing challenges for our elective programme in terms of the number of nurses needed to deliver safe levels of post-operative care for patients and anaesthetists to support those operations as a result of long-term vacancies.’

Urgent care has been prioritised over the elective programme ’when required’.

It continued: ’Taking the decision to cancel elective procedures is a last resort and isn’t done lightly because we understand the impact this has on the individuals waiting to receive treatment.’

shortages

A public board meeting was held recently where staff shortages and nurse recruitment were discussed.

It was established that Manx Care had a large number of permanent nurse vacancies as well as a high number of general consultant and permanent anaesthetist vacancies which the service ’has been carrying for some time’.

The statement added: ’Lack of available workforce is a problem facing NHS Trusts across the UK and isn’t just unique to Manx Care - some of these posts are hard to recruit into and so remain unfilled despite historic efforts to do this.

’It’s something that we’re actively working on, but increasing our available workforce with appropriately qualified staff can take time to achieve.

’We’re proactively working to recruit new staff members both from across the UK and further afield because we recognise the risk that this poses to our organisation and our ability to deliver care, and to improve our resilience so that we can maintain our elective programme.’

It follows after Manx Care were unable to discharge some patients from Noble’s Hospital into onward care in August as a result of a rise in Covid-19 cases and the outbreaks in some residential care homes.

This meant there weren’t enough available beds to perform a small number of elective procedures, leading to their cancellation.

The government has since refused to say if there have been any suspensions of anaesthetists in Noble’s Hospital amid the shortage.

An investigation is being conducted into an ’incident’ earlier this year which happened at the hospital, according to the Department of Health and Social Care.

It said in a statement: ’Given that the outcome of the investigation is yet to be determined it would not be appropriate to comment further at this stage.’

Some elective surgeries have been cancelled at Noble’s Hospital due to ’bed pressures’ and ’workforce challenges’.

Manx Care has said it’s facing staffing shortages for its elective programme.

According to a statement from the organisation, this isn’t exclusive to the Isle of Man but NHS Trusts across the UK have faced similar problems.

The statement said: ’We’re facing a number of staffing challenges for our elective programme in terms of the number of nurses needed to deliver safe levels of post-operative care for patients and anaesthetists to support those operations as a result of long-term vacancies.’

Urgent care has been prioritised over the elective programme ’when required’.

It continued: ’Taking the decision to cancel elective procedures is a last resort and isn’t done lightly because we understand the impact this has on the individuals waiting to receive treatment.’

A public board meeting was held on Tuesday, September 28 where staff shortages and nurse recruitment were discussed.

It was established that Manx Care had a large number of permanent nurse vacancies as well as a high number of general consultant and permanent anaesthetist vacancies which the service ’has been carrying for some time’.

The statement added: ’Lack of available workforce is a problem facing NHS Trusts across the UK and isn’t just unique to Manx Care - some of these posts are hard to recruit into and so remain unfilled despite historic efforts to do this.

’It’s something that we’re actively working on, but increasing our available workforce with appropriately qualified staff can take time to achieve.

’We’re proactively working to recruit new staff members both from across the UK and further afield because we recognise the risk that this poses to our organisation and our ability to deliver care, and to improve our resilience so that we can maintain our elective programme.’

It follows after Manx Care were unable to discharge some patients from Noble’s Hospital into onward care in August as a result of a rise in Covid-19 cases and the outbreak’s in some residential care homes.

This meant there weren’t enough available beds to perform a small number of elective procedures, leading to their cancellation.

The government has since refused to say if there have been any suspensions of anaesthetists in Noble’s Hospital amid the shortage.

An investigation is being conducted into an ’incident’ earlier this year which happened at the hospital, according to the Department of Health and Social Care.

It said in a statement: ’Given that the outcome of the investigation is yet to be determined it would not be appropriate to comment further at this stage.’