Manx Care has responded to the results of a British Medical Association Survey, which among other negatives found that 79% of respondents think that the organisation lacks strong leadership.

Seventy-two out of the 160 doctors who were sent the NHS ‘Culture of Care Barometer’ responded, of whom 66% said they either disagreed or strongly disagreed with the statement that they felt well informed about what was happening within the organisation.

Manx Care said that ‘the survey results highlight there is a lot of work to do to develop the culture of the organisation’.

Just 21% agreed and only 1% strongly agreed with the statement ‘the organisation has a positive culture’.

And 44% of those who responded felt that the people they worked with were friendly and that when ‘things get difficult’, while 44% agreed they could rely on colleagues to help them.

When it came to addressing poor behaviours, 60% disagreed or strongly disagreed with the statement that ‘unacceptable behaviour is consistently tackled.’

The chair of council for the BMA, Professor Philip Banfield said: ‘On my recent visit to the Isle of Man and afterwards, doctors told me of the anger, dismay, and distress they felt about not just Dr Ranson and her treatment, but about the culture of the health system more widely.

‘This latest barometer shows little improvement and far from the figurative needle rising, it continues to be in a deep trough of poor morale and poor communication. This is not an environment any doctor should have to work in and I’m really glad that we are now able to discuss and plan improvement and change in an open and transparent manner.’

In response, the Manx Care statement read as follows:

‘Manx Care is a learning organisation; since our establishment, we have put cultural change as one of our three priorities.

‘The board and all of our leadership team know and recognise the significant importance of listening, being willing to change and demonstrating our core values.

‘We welcome this independent Culture of Care Barometer survey and we have a commitment to repeat the survey on an annual basis following the survey being conducted for the first time in March 2022.’.

It continued, going on to list what it saw as positives in the survey.

‘‘Whilst the survey results highlight there is a lot of work to do to develop the culture of the organisation, we are encouraged by a number of the results and comments which highlight that progress is slowly being made, including:

– Many colleagues feel they have sufficient time to do their job, know what is expected of them and get the training and development they need to succeed

– The survey acknowledges that colleagues feel their Line Managers treat them with respect, they feel respected by their co-workers, and they are surrounded by positive role models

– Colleagues feel they can have influence within their teams

– Management is seen to be fair throughout the organisation

– Manx Care understands colleagues’ roles and supports them in doing these

– Primary Care is seen as a good place to work, with a positive culture

– Communication is strong, with recognition that Managers work hard to communicate with their teams

‘The survey results indicate that colleagues do not always feel they have the resources they need. This is something we are acutely aware of and have been working in partnership with the Isle of Man Government to address.

‘Manx Care has taken significant steps over the last year to address its long-standing and hard-to-recruit vacancies, and many posts are now filled substantively. Our international Nurse recruitment has also been successful, with many long-standing nursing vacancies also filled.

‘Along with the entire health and social care system internationally, staffing shortages remain, and we are relentless in our focus and commitment to addressing this.’