'No single solution' to pressures on hospital beds

Steps are being taken to address pressures on bed occupancy levels at the Isle of Man's main hospital but there "is no single or immediate solution", the health minister has said.

It follows a call by the Medical Staff Committee to increase bed spaces by 50 due to concerns about a "critical" shortage.

Claire Christian MHK said the department was committed to supporting Manx Care in reducing its average occupancy levels from 86.9% in 2025-26 to the internationally recognised safe operating level of 85%.

However, she said it was not "simply about increasing hospital beds" but would need to include the appropriate staffing and equipment resources as well.

The committee, which is made up of about 75 doctors and consultants, said the current capacity was "insufficient to safely support the simultaneous demands of the emergency admissions and planned surgical procedures".

That, the medics said, was "severely limiting" spaces for post-operative recovery and leading to the postponement of planned procedures, leading to "profound moral injury" being experienced by doctors.

Manx Care was created in 2021 as an arm's-length provider of healthcare on the island, with the Department of Health and Social Care setting policy and priorities, and ensuring standards.

Christian said the topics at the core of the discussions were "complex" and the pressures on bed space were "not unique to our island".

She said while there had been 314 beds at Noble's Hospital when it originally opened in 2003, that had reduced to 279 by the time Manx Care was created in 2021 – currently standing at 233.

However, she said clarifying the numbers did "not diminish the lived experience of the wonderful clinicians and nurses", and everyone "must work together to bring the bed occupancy down to safe levels of 85%".

She said it was an "urgent issue" that was receiving the "attention it deserves".

"Ultimately, this challenge is not simply about increasing hospital beds," she said.

"Every bed needs resourcing in people terms, in equipment terms, in procedure, and the decision to adjust bed and ward space is a complex and costly matter."

The department had previously committed to commissioning a full bed-capacity review, the parameters for which are currently under discussion, she added.

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