Meeting on hospital services to 'clear the air'

A planned public meeting over the current relocation of several services during the refurbishment of a northern hospital will "help to clear the air", a commissioner has said.

Martin Ward at Ramsey Cottage Hospital – used for rehabilitation and respite care – was closed in October due to a pest control issue, with other services including the Minor Injuries Unit relocated to Noble's Hospital in December.

The date for the return of all services to the north was pushed back from April to later in the summer, with no firm date confirmed.

Ramsey Commissioners said both the Department of Health and Social Care and Manx Care had agreed to take part in the planned gathering to discuss the situation.

The health department recently said the Minor Injuries Unit and radiology services will be run from a modular unit in Ramsey from mid-May, with work continuing to reopen Martin Ward to inpatients as part of plans to ease pressure on Noble's Hospital bed spaces.

However, NHS services offered by Smile Dental remain suspended after the practice said alternative premises provided by Manx Care in Douglas were "unsuitable".

Ramsey Commissioners vice-chair Sandra Cottam-Shea said residents and ratepayers deserved to be kept up to date with the progress and expected re-opening of the medical facility.

She said the northern hospital was an "integral" part of Manx Care's plans as it helped to take "the strain off Noble's".

Although there had been "a lot of negative comments" about the uncertainty, she said she believed the health authorities were "working very hard to resolve" the situation.

It was important, she said that "we are kept up to date with the progress and expected opening of the cottage hospital".

"We need to know why, how, what, where and when, and everybody seems to be willing to come and talk to us to clear the air and give us some faith."

Details of the meeting will be confirmed when a "date where everybody is available" has been agreed, she added.

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