Manx Care outlines arrangements in place as RCN members strike tomorrow

Manx Care has outlined the working arrangements that will be in place as some members of staff go on strike tomorrow.

The health body says this information may change depending on staffing levels on the day.

Essential services will remain open as planned - this includes inpatient services at Noble's and Ramsey Cottage Hospitals, A&E, the maternity and oncology units, in-patient mental health services, some community based services, dialysis services and critical care provision, alongside maintenance of urgent cancer services and emergency surgery cases.

The Minor Injuries and Illnesses Unit and Blood Clinic at Ramsey Cottage Hospital will close for the day. 

Around 120 face-to-face outpatient appointments have been cancelled, with patients affected being notified.

Endoscopy appointments for patients on the urgent two-week wait pathway for a suspected cancer diagnosis will go ahead. All other Endoscopy appointments have been cancelled.

All other appointments for patients on the urgent two-week wait pathway for a suspected cancer diagnosis will also go ahead. This includes suspected Gynaecological and skin cancers.

All elective theatre sessions have been cancelled. However, there will be some theatre provision for management of urgent, emergency and trauma patients.

Appointments for anyone due to receive oncology treatment at the Eric and Marion Scott Oncology Day Unit, haemodialysis treatment or any other urgent therapy will continue as planned.

The Macmillan Cancer Information and Support Service (MCISS) will be open as usual, alongside picking up voicemails on 650735, and will respond to emails sent to MacmillanCancerInformationCentre.Nobles@gov.im.

In-patient services for Manx Care’s Integrated Mental Health Service provided within the Manannan Court facility at Noble’s Hospital will continue as planned. However, some mental health outpatient appointments will be rescheduled including those provided through the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS). The Mental Health Crisis Team will operate as normal.

Maternity appointments will continue to take place on Tuesday, including routine appointments, scans and services provided through the Early Pregnancy Assessment Unit at Noble’s. The Jane Crookall Maternity Unit will operate as planned. As usual, if any pregnant woman has any concerns or needs advice, they should not hesitate to contact our Maternity Unit on 650030 where our Midwives will be happy to help.

Children’s Ward services will continue as planned, alongside Paediatric outpatient appointments.

The GUM Clinic at Noble’s Hospital will close on Tuesday. Additionally, the Fertility Clinic and Family Planning services will also close.

Urgent and time-sensitive termination appointments will be maintained as planned.    

Clinics and home visits for both adults and children provided by Manx Care’s Community Nursing Team will be cancelled, unless these are deemed as being critical. District Nurses will carry out essential and clinically urgent interventions only. Other non-essential visits will be cancelled.

Critical School Nursing and Health Visiting appointments will also go ahead as planned. Service users and parents will be advised if their visit will be impacted by the strike action.

The Diabetes Centre on the Noble’s Hospital site will maintain its medically-led appointments. However, its Nurse-led clinics will be cancelled.  

Therapies outpatient appointments planned for Tuesday will continue as planned.

Diagnostic appointments provided through the Noble’s Hospital Radiology Department and Ramsey and District Cottage Hospital (for example X-Rays, MRI, DEXA and CT scans, and ultrasound) will continue as planned. Routine breast screenings will go ahead as planned. 

The Island’s GP practices are unaffected by the RCN strike action. This includes Ballasalla Group Practice which is operated by Manx Care. If you have a GP appointment, this will go ahead as planned unless you are contacted by your practice to change this. Please be reminded that the Manx Emergency Doctor Service (MEDS) is for issues that happen outside of core working hours.

Manx Care says it 'respects and supports' the decision by Royal College of Nursing members to take industrial action and participate in strike action.