Elective surgery to restart at Noble's after six week stop

Additional theatre to open from Monday

Elective surgery at Noble's Hospital will resume six weeks after operations were stopped due to staff shortages.

Since mid-October only urgent, emergency and trauma surgery has taken place, alongside cancer surgery and some diagnostic procedures (such as Endoscapy) and minor operations.

Meanwhile, with an estimated 40,000 Nurse vacancies and 10,000 Doctor vacancies across the UK, Manx Care says it is competing with NHS Trusts to recruit staff.

Despite this, it's appointed a number of new Specialists over the past month, including three Respiratory Medicine Consultants, a Consultant Radiologist, a Consultant Anaesthetist, a Consultant Geriatrician and a Urologist.

From Monday (6 December) an additional theatre will open for elective surgery appointments at a reduced winter level.

Manx Care CEO Teresa Cope said: 'The resumption of planned elective procedures at the reduced rate typically delivered across the winter period means that we can continue to focus on providing treatment to those people who are currently on our waiting lists for surgery, in operating theatres which are more adequately staffed and which have been upgraded with new equipment.

'We are looking to specialist centres in the UK to help us focus on the continued reduction of our waiting lists by securing extra capacity, supplementing the operating capacity we’re able to provide here on the Island and offering some of our patients a choice around their planned care. This is an interim measure whilst we address our critical workforce challenge, which is the single biggest risk currently facing Manx Care.

'It’s important that we do look to secure additional capacity from specialist centres in the UK in the short-term whilst simultaneously progressing our overseas recruitment campaign.

'Quite simply, we cannot continue to address our waiting lists and safely deliver patient care here on-Island without doing both of these things. Some of the patients on our waiting lists have been waiting for their planned care for too long, and this is unacceptable.

'All of the measures we’re taking are being taken with the best interests of our patients and service users at the forefront of our minds, and will help us to continue developing our services so that they’re sustainable for the long-term benefit of Manx residents.'