Department of Health and Social Care
17 FOI requests | Full disclosure rate: 1047.1%
The Freedom of Information requests reveal a Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) under intense scrutiny regarding workforce stability, procurement transparency, and clinical performance. A dominant narrative is the struggle to manage staffing levels, evidenced by repeated requests on bank staff costs, zero-hours contracts, and the 'MARS' redundancy scheme. The authority has been largely transparent about the *existence* of these issues—disclosing relocation packages for nurses and the financial cost of redundancies—but often cites 'excessive compilation effort' or 'data limitations' when asked for granular breakdowns of costs or specific staff categories. This suggests a reactive administrative culture where data is held in silos, making comprehensive analysis difficult for the public.
Key Cases
Case 355345 — This case reveals a significant ethical transparency regarding vaccine ingredients. The authority confirmed that specific vaccines use historical cell lines from legal abortions in the 1960s but explicitly stated this information is not currently provided to patients on consent forms, raising questions about informed consent practices.
Case 355291 — A rare and specific disclosure regarding the Isle of Man TT, revealing the exact amounts recovered from private insurance for race-related medical treatments and confirming that no competitors required Intensive Therapy Unit admission in 2017, providing concrete data on the health impact of major sporting events.
Case 355301 — This case highlights a potential conflict of interest involving the Minister (Hon K Beecroft) and her company, Manx Home Care. While transfer statistics were released, the authority admitted it did not hold the specific contract files, suggesting a fragmentation of records or a deliberate separation of procurement data from the health department.
Case 355253 — The request regarding the 2006 Everall Report (a major child welfare inquiry) was refused on the grounds that the DHSC does not hold the implementation data, which was assigned to the Chief Secretary's Office. This points to a systemic lack of accountability tracking for long-term child protection reforms.
Case 361157 — This case quantifies the cost of the Mutual Agreed Resignation Scheme (MARS), disclosing the total payout and annual savings. It serves as a concrete financial metric for the department's strategy to reduce staffing costs through voluntary redundancies.
Related FOI Stories
Dental Services and UDA Performance — #355317, #355117, #355319, #355331, #420033
Workforce Crisis: Recruitment, Retention, and MARS — #355311, #355143, #355153, #355357, #355281
Procurement, Contracts, and Ministerial Conflicts of Interest — #355217, #355161, #355247, #355301, #358156
Clinical Services: Endoscopy, Waiting Lists, and Procedures — #355115, #355219, #355223, #355263, #355387
Public Health, Vaccination, and Substance Abuse — #356085, #355133, #355145, #355229, #355333
| Date | Title | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-10-02 | Management reports from Manx Care | No information sent - all held but exempt |
| The requester asked for a management report from Manx Care referenced in a tweet by Lawrie Hooper MHK regarding GP wait times. The Department of Health and Social Care did not send the document, stating it is already reasonably accessible to the public via Manx Care's website. | ||
| 2024-03-19 | Potential reduction in the out-of-hours doctors service (Meds) | No information sent - all held but exempt |
| 2023-08-23 | Health Services Consultative Committee (HSCC) role change by DHSC | No information sent - all held but exempt |
| 2023-05-17 | CQC full hospital report | No information sent - all held but exempt |
| 2023-05-04 | Copies of all correspondence concerning Dr Ranson | No information sent - all held but exempt |
| 2023-03-21 | General Dental contracts | No information sent - all held but exempt |
| 2023-03-03 | Death records | No information sent - all held but exempt |
| 2021-09-09 | Doctors employed by DHSC not Manx Care | No information sent - all held but exempt |
| The requester asked for the number of medical doctors directly employed by the Department of Health and Social Care following the establishment of Manx Care. The authority disclosed that one doctor is employed but refused to provide further breakdowns, citing that the information is already reasonably accessible via public websites. | ||
| 2021-03-19 | Patients in Nobles hospital | No information sent - all held but exempt |
| A request was made for statistics on COVID-19 test results and vaccination doses for 26 patients at Nobles Hospital on March 19, 2021. The Department of Health and Social Care refused to disclose the information, citing an absolute exemption for personal data. | ||
| 2021-03-16 | ICU COVID | No information sent - all held but exempt |
| The requester asked if a confirmed COVID-19 case was present on the non-COVID ICU ward on March 11, 2021, and why the ward was on 'Code Red'. The Department of Health and Social Care disclosed that a positive patient was isolated in a negative pressure room and explained that the 'Code Red' status was triggered by an internal contact tracing exercise on March 10. | ||
| 2020-07-28 | R&I Unit Policy on Management of complaints about regulated care servi | No information sent - all held but exempt |
| A request was made for complaint records and investigation reports regarding Abbotswood Nursing Home and a review of the 2014 R&I Unit Policy. The Department of Health and Social Care withheld all requested information, citing exemptions related to confidential sources and ongoing investigations. | ||
| 2020-05-18 | Expol Contract or Terms of Reference for Abbotswood Inquiry | No information sent - all held but exempt |
| 2020-02-13 | Corona | No information sent - all held but exempt |
| A request was made for the number of coronavirus tests conducted on the Isle of Man since January 1, 2020. The Department of Health and Social Care refused to provide the data directly, citing that the information was already reasonably accessible via their official website. | ||
| 2019-04-03 | Annual spend | No information sent - all held but exempt |
| A request was made for the Department of Health and Social Care's total expenditure as of 31 March 2019, but no information was disclosed because it is exempt under section 41 pending future publication to Tynwald. | ||
| 2018-05-15 | Organ Donation | No information sent - all held but exempt |
| The requester asked for annual statistics on organ donations to the UK over the past 10 years, broken down by organ type. The Department of Health and Social Care refused to provide the data directly, citing that the information was already reasonably accessible via a previous FOI publication. | ||
| 2018-05-08 | Budget | No information sent - all held but exempt |
| A request was made to the Department of Health and Social Care for the previous financial year's spending and budget figures. The authority refused to disclose the information, citing that it is held for future publication and is not yet finalized. | ||
| 2017-01-20 | Request for Cost of Muscular Dystrophy Medication for one child for one year | No information sent - all held but exempt |
| A request for the annual cost of medication for a single child with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy on the Isle of Man was refused because disclosing the figure would identify a living individual. The authority cited an absolute exemption for personal information but provided a link to a related parliamentary review of the treatment. | ||