Hospice Isle of Man has detailed its response plan to ensure it can continue to provide care to island residents.

The plan has been created by Hospice working closely with colleagues at the Department of Health and Social Care and in partnership with other third sector and community networks.

Chief executive Anne Mills, said: ’Like so many other countries, we are facing unprecedented challenges and, with confirmation last week that Covid-19 has now been confirmed on the island and the speed at which the outbreak is unfolding, it is already putting intense pressure on the specialist services we provide to patients, their families and carers across the island.

’We have already taken steps to escalate and accelerate our Hospice at Home plan, to refocus how we continue to best help patients who have regular support needs, and to help protect our valuable staff and volunteers from the spread of infection.’

The Hospice Covid-19 Response Plan includes:

â?¢ The identification of Hospice Director of Care Tracy Broom, and Clinical Lead Dr Ben Harris, as leading the Hospice Clinical Covid-19 Response.

â?¢ The involvement of the Hospice Scholl Academic Centre’s Dr Giovanna Cruz, as an experienced epidemiologist, in the Isle of Man Government to work on clinical modelling for the impact of the virus.

â?¢ The development of four hubs across the Island to enable flexible and local community response to End of Life care needs.

â?¢ Daily virtual support via ZOOM to nursing and residential care settings.

â?¢ A refocus of day care patient support and out-patient clinics to tele-health and remote management.

â?¢ We will temporarily close all our shops except our Hospice Warehouse.

â?¢ Fundraising social/community events postponed until further notice.

â?¢ Compassionate Community volunteers refocusing to support vulnerable patients.

Mrs Mills added: ’We remain committed to providing the best quality care to the Island for anyone living with a terminal or life-limiting condition but realise that our help and expertise will be invaluable in a wider setting as we too face the challenges from the impact of this pandemic on our island.

’Our services to both the public and health professionals are signposted on our website and we will be looking to our fantastic base of supporters to help find innovative ways of fundraising to help ensure we can continue to deliver our vital services through these challenging clinical and economic times.’