The Island Should be Worried

The chair of the British Medical Association’s council says the island’s doctors fear raising concerns and said it is one of the most dysfunctional systems he’s experienced.

Professor Philip Banfield also praised the courage shown by Dr Rosalind Ranson during her tribunal case with the Manx gov.

During his visit, Prof Banfield met with 60 doctors working on the island, who told him of a culture of fear that prevented them from raising concerns with management.

He said: ‘I knew a little bit about what was going on and what the concerns were, but what I found both alarming and distressing yesterday was the intensity of fear, a universal agreement that the doctors on the island are not engaged, or do not feel engaged, with what’s going on.

‘They do not feel that they can raise concerns about safety, they feel that if they do raise concerns they are often threatened, bullied, threatened with referral to the General Medical Council and that kind of culture is destructive and it is corrosive of providing health in a safe manner and that is a worry, the island should be very worried about.’

Asked to compare the Isle of Man to the UK, Prof Banfield said: ‘I have to say I have seen some very dysfunctional trusts and health boards in the UK and this is probably one of the worst cases I have come across, which is really alarming. And that is outside of the appalling treatment of Dr Ranson.’

Prof Banfield added that he has no doubt that the doctors will do their best for their patients ‘in any particular circumstance’.

However, he added: ‘But, the chances of something going wrong are much higher given the kind of culture that is apparent still ongoing on the island and that’s really not only disappointing, it’s frightening that it’s still not making progress having been raised really several years ago.

‘There have been lots health boards and trusts in the UK where concerns have been raised, reports have been written, nothings happened and you have to be very careful that doesn’t happen on the Isle of Man and you have got to ask really who has been responsible for this and who is now responsible for making this better, how to make the service as safe as it can be?

‘It is very difficult to do without engaging the medical teams and the medical teams are feeling very unengaged.’

Prof Banfield said he hasn’t seen ‘any’ indication that the transition to Manx Care had made any difference to the culture of fear reported by BMA members.

However, he said that the organisation has to be given the freedom to do the job it is supposed to do and can do, if it works to remove the culture of fear that still exists.

Work to be Done

A spokesperson for Manx Care: ‘Developing a positive working culture is one of Manx Care’s four key priorities, and something that the organisation has worked incredibly hard to change since its inception just over two years ago.

‘We are very proud of what has been achieved collectively with our colleagues to date in terms of the cultural improvements we have made, yet we recognise how much there is still to do, and that this won’t be achieved quickly.

‘We remain firmly committed to improving the culture of our organisation, ensuring that all of our colleagues feel psychologically safe and supported to raise any concerns that they have.’