Almost £140,000 is owed to Manx Care from non-island residents who received hospital treatment in the Isle of Man.

In a written Tynwald question, Onchan MHK Julie Edge asked Health and Social Care Minister Claire Christian what income has been received for hospital services to non-residents each year since 2016 and how much debt is outstanding for each such year.

Ms Christian revealed treatment worth more than half a million pounds had been given to non-island residents. While the vast majority has been paid back, £139,229 remains outstanding.

The minister pointed out most visitors to the Isle of Man are from the UK and a Reciprocal Healthcare Agreement is in place which means the majority of visitors are not charged for hospital services.

She also revealed most of the treatment for non-island residents has come during the TT and Manx Grand Prix periods.

Ms Christian said: ‘At the commencement of the 2024/25 financial year, an improvement programme commenced to enhance identification of overseas visitors for charging purposes and improving systems to capture patient data and costs.

‘This has resulted in an increase in the amount invoiced to overseas visitors and the amount paid. Much of the activity tends to occur during the TT and Manx Grand Prix racing periods.’

The largest sum still owed came during 2024/25 which stands at £99,194 with the vast majority of the sum relating to one debt from a visitor in Canada which is currently subject to a court order.

So far this year, £12,624 is owed and the next highest is from 2019/20 with £6,889. None was owed during 2020/21 when the Covid pandemic hit and totals of under £1,000 are owed for all the other years from 2017 until now.