Manx Care is reassuring the public that, despite high figures of Covid on the Island, thanks to the flexibility and adaptability of their dedicated workforce, staffing of their essential services is currently being maintained.
The situation is fast-moving with the requirement to adapt service delivery as appropriate. Staff have been relocated from temporarily suspended clinics/services to ensure that essential services can continue. There are a number of services and clinics that are continuing to operate face-to-face services. These are:
- Emergency Department
- Oncology Day Unit & Clinics
- Rheumatology Department & Day Assessment Treatment Unit
- Audiology
- Haematology
- Blood Clinic
- Paediatrics
- Ophthalmology – Macular Clinics and Paediatrics
- Radiology
- Antenatal Clinics
- Fracture Clinics Fracture and Orthopaedic Clinics in Ramsey District Cottage Hospital
- Outpatient Therapy Clinics (i.e. physiotherapy, podiatry, speech therapy etc)
- Anticoagulation clinics
All services operated by Social Care teams continue to operate as normal however visiting is suspended in Manx Care’s older persons care homes.
Services in Primary Care are continuing, with GPs providing face-to-face appointments where clinically necessary and telephone appointments where it is appropriate. Dental and optical practices are continuing to see patients face-to-face but patients are requested to ‘know before they go’ and undertake a lateral flow test before attending any Primary Care appointments.
Chief Executive, Teresa Cope explained:
“We constantly monitor our staffing and demand levels across the whole organisation to ensure that staff are where they are most needed. We would like to thank our dedicated staff for their ongoing flexible approach to delivering care within health and social care settings.
“Like many organisations and businesses across the Island the situation is very fluid. We will continue to update the public with any changes, and would encourage them to consider seeking support from the service that is most appropriate for their needs at the moment, for example the Minor Injuries and Illnesses Unit at Ramsey Cottage Hospital. We are still here to support the Manx public despite the current situation.”
Manx Care is reminding the public to think about where they can get help, do they need to their GP? Do they need to attend the Emergency Department at Noble’s or could they attend the Minor Injuries Unit at Ramsey?
For more details of where to get the right help
It is also worth considering what is covered under the Minor Ailments Scheme that your local pharmacists can give you advice for.
Manx Care is also reminding the public attending any Manx Care healthcare setting about the mandatory use of facemasks (including changing to a medical grade fresh mask at the entrances to each setting).