Department of Health and Social Care
97 FOI requests | Full disclosure rate: 183.5%
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
All (97)
Information not held (271) ·
All information sent (178) ·
Some information sent but not all held (97) ·
Some information sent but part exempt (44) ·
No information sent - all held but exempt (17) ·
Not upheld (12) ·
Upheld - partial (11) ·
Request lapsed - requested information not provided (4) ·
Not required to fulfill request (4) ·
Upheld - full (3) ·
Repeated request (1) ·
Neither confirm or deny information held (1) ·
Decision Notice - Complaint upheld (1) ·
| Date | Title | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| 2026-01-12 | NHS Dental Waiting List Allocations & Patient Preferences | Some information sent but not all held |
| The Department of Health and Social Care disclosed NHS dental waiting list sizes and allocation numbers for late 2025 but confirmed it does not hold data regarding patient preferences or audit trails linking preferences to allocations. | ||
| 2025-02-06 | DHSC staffing and running costs | Some information sent but not all held |
| The request sought detailed staffing numbers, job titles, payroll costs, running expenses, sick days, contract staff, training costs, and regulatory actions for the Isle of Man Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC). The authority provided a breakdown of job titles and specific payroll costs for 2023/24 and part of 2024/25, but withheld the total staff count citing that the information is reasonably accessible via a public quarterly report. | ||
| 2025-01-27 | Health Care external quality regulators | Some information sent but not all held |
| The requester asked about compliance with the 2019 Sir Jonathan Michael report regarding external quality regulators for Manx Care, specifically concerning CQC inspections and ratings. The Department of Health and Social Care responded that most information is publicly available online, confirmed that CQC baseline inspections are complete with no further CQC visits planned, and stated that future inspections will not receive formal CQC ratings due to lack of enforcement powers on the Isle of Man. | ||
| 2024-11-26 | Ofsted inspection terms of reference | Some information sent but not all held |
| The requester asked for Ofsted inspection terms of reference regarding children's services and emails concerning disability service inspections. The Department of Health and Social Care provided some information but withheld specific documents citing exemptions under Section 25 and Section 30(2)(b) of the Freedom of Information Act. | ||
| 2024-03-01 | Health Minister Correspondence | Some information sent but not all held |
| 2023-12-20 | Hourly fee charged by the AG | Some information sent but not all held |
| 2023-10-02 | Yell card data, who reviewed it | Some information sent but not all held |
| 2023-10-02 | Rheumatology | Some information sent but not all held |
| 2023-08-31 | PCR tests for covid | Some information sent but not all held |
| 2023-08-15 | CBPM Patients, Prescriptions & Imports | Some information sent but not all held |
| 2023-07-28 | Cummal Mooar Residential Home, Ramsey | Some information sent but not all held |
| A request was made for financial records, inspection reports, closure meeting notes, and land sale inquiries regarding Cummal Mooar Residential Home. The Department of Health and Social Care provided an unannounced inspection report from 2018 but indicated that not all requested information was held. | ||
| 2023-07-19 | Cost of legal action vs. Mr Paul Moulton, Isle of Man TV to date | Some information sent but not all held |
| 2023-07-04 | Childrens | Some information sent but not all held |
| 2023-06-13 | Chronic Panic Clinic/Anesthetic - Nobles Hospital | Some information sent but not all held |
| 2023-05-16 | Employment Tribunals | Some information sent but not all held |
| 2023-04-20 | "Manx Care Mitigations", 'errors', and how they were created | Some information sent but not all held |
| 2023-03-29 | Number of social workers on the Isle of Man | Some information sent but not all held |
| 2023-03-23 | manx care structure | Some information sent but not all held |
| 2023-01-18 | meta data requirements, contractors and costs | Some information sent but not all held |
| 2022-08-29 | Cost of private investigators | Some information sent but not all held |
| 2022-08-08 | Information on number of cases | Some information sent but not all held |
| The requester asked for a breakdown of medical negligence cases against Nobles Hospital over five years, including reasons and judgments for successful claims. The Department of Health and Social Care could not provide case counts or details but disclosed the total costs awarded for successful claims between 2019 and 2022. | ||
| 2022-03-31 | Nhs Dental Pay Rise | Some information sent but not all held |
| The requester sought detailed financial data on NHS dental contract uplifts, UDAS performance, and clawbacks, alongside current waiting list figures. The Department of Health and Social Care refused most requests citing that the information is held by Manx Care, but disclosed the dental waiting list count as of March 21, 2022. | ||
| 2022-01-25 | National Health Elective Surgery | Some information sent but not all held |
| A request was made for details on private healthcare providers commissioned for hip and knee replacements in the North West of England and surgery statistics at Noble's Hospital. The Department of Health and Social Care refused to provide the specific data as it is held by Manx Care, though they disclosed the preferred providers listed in the original business case. | ||
| 2021-10-04 | Costs for off island recruitment costs | Some information sent but not all held |
| The requester asked for off-island recruitment costs for the Department of Health and Social Care over five years, but the department only held data for the period after its redesign in April 2021, referring older data to Manx Care. | ||
| 2021-10-04 | Unfilled job listings | Some information sent but not all held |
| The requester asked for overall job listings and unfilled vacancy figures for the Department of Health and Social Care over the last five years. The Department disclosed data only for the period from April to October 2021, stating that information for the full five-year period is held by Manx Care following a structural redesign. | ||
| 2021-06-16 | Covid and pcr figures | Some information sent but not all held |
| The requester asked for PCR settings, mortality figures, undertaker death data, vaccine reaction reports, and legal resolution compliance; the Department of Health and Social Care disclosed that it does not hold most of this data, directing the requester to other bodies like Manx Care and Public Health, while confirming the use of the UK Yellow Card scheme for vaccine reactions. | ||
| 2021-04-13 | Abbotswood Nursing Home Deaths | Some information sent but not all held |
| A request for detailed data regarding deaths, autopsies, DNR orders, and gagging orders at Abbotswood Nursing Home in 2019 and 2020 was submitted to the Department of Health and Social Care. The authority responded that it does not hold the requested information, directing the requester to other bodies like the General Registry and Manx Care, while noting that DNR data would be exempt as personal health records. | ||
| 2021-03-31 | Current active positive Covid 19 cases | Some information sent but not all held |
| A request was made for current active Covid-19 case numbers by age group and details on the primary cause of 29 recorded deaths. The Department of Health and Social Care refused to provide this information, stating it is held by Public Health within the Cabinet Office. | ||
| 2021-03-16 | Number of visitors (outpatients and signed in visitors) Nobles | Some information sent but not all held |
| The request sought data on hospital visitors, outpatients, and staff numbers for March 2021, broken down by time of day. The Department of Health and Social Care provided detailed outpatient appointment statistics by location and media type but did not hold data on general visitors or staff numbers. | ||
| 2021-03-11 | Description of "cases" | Some information sent but not all held |
| The requester asked for clarification on how 'positive cases' are defined, testing protocols, symptom data, PCR sensitivity, and potential links between vaccination and case increases. The Department of Health and Social Care confirmed that positive cases are based solely on PCR detection, provided technical test specifications, but withheld symptom data and investigation details citing that the information is not held by their department. | ||
| 2021-03-02 | Number of Hip Replacements carried out | Some information sent but not all held |
| The request sought monthly breakdowns of hip replacement surgeries and waiting list removal statistics for 2019 and 2020 at Nobles Hospital. The authority disclosed aggregate surgery counts and detailed waiting list removal reasons but could not provide monthly breakdowns due to incomplete clinical coding. | ||
| 2021-01-27 | Statistics of children on care orders in the IOM. | Some information sent but not all held |
| The requester asked for annual statistics on children placed on care orders in the Isle of Man from 2009 to 2020. The Department of Health and Social Care provided data for 2010 through 2020 but confirmed that records for 2009 were not held. | ||
| 2021-01-27 | Actual / full costs of COVID 19 vaccination program | Some information sent but not all held |
| The requester asked for the full actual and future costs of the Isle of Man's COVID-19 vaccination program, including staff wages, venue running costs, and storage expenses. The Department of Health and Social Care responded that it could not provide full actual costs due to ongoing uncertainty in the delivery model, instead providing approved budgets and estimated expenditures for specific areas. | ||
| 2021-01-26 | COVID-19/21, | Some information sent but not all held |
| The request sought information on SARS-CoV-2 isolation, PCR testing parameters, mask risk assessments, and flu death statistics. The Department of Health and Social Care confirmed PCR details and internal mask assessments but stated the virus was not isolated or purified, while refusing to provide business-specific risk assessments and flu death numbers due to lack of held information. | ||
| 2021-01-26 | Vaccine Hubs | Some information sent but not all held |
| A request was made for the total costs of creating three vaccine hubs on the Isle of Man, but the Department of Health and Social Care could only provide current known expenditures and estimates as final outturn costs were not yet available. | ||
| 2021-01-08 | Tele-psychiatry and Longitudinal Data | Some information sent but not all held |
| A request was made for longitudinal data on the uptake and efficacy of Kooth and Quell tele-psychiatry services during the pandemic, but the authority only provided general mental health referral statistics for 2020 as specific service data was not held. | ||
| 2020-12-17 | Independence of the Independent Review Body for health complaints Part 2 | Some information sent but not all held |
| The request sought details on consultations regarding NHS Regulations 2004, public consultation intentions, and specific information about a complaints training program initiated in December 2020. The authority responded that not all information was held, providing instead a generic medico-legal guide on the NHS complaints procedure in England rather than Isle of Man-specific documents. | ||
| 2020-11-10 | Covid-19 cancellations | Some information sent but not all held |
| 2020-11-09 | Presentation by Dr Rachel Glover | Some information sent but not all held |
| The requester asked for a copy of a presentation by Dr Rachel Glover regarding COVID-19 index cases and testing standards given to Isle of Man officials in October 2020. The Department of Health and Social Care stated they do not hold the document as it was not arranged by them, but provided a YouTube link where the presentation can be viewed. | ||
| 2020-10-19 | Number of births during Covid19 | Some information sent but not all held |
| The request sought data on births during COVID-19 restrictions and trends in postnatal depression; the authority disclosed the number of births but refused the depression data as it was not held in a reportable format. | ||
| 2020-09-28 | Abortion belief refusals | Some information sent but not all held |
| The requester asked for monthly statistics on staff conscientious objections to abortion under the Isle of Man Abortion Reform Act 2019 since June 2019. The Department of Health and Social Care disclosed that no objections were recorded by nursing or medical staff, but confirmed they do not hold data regarding pharmacy staff objections. | ||
| 2020-09-16 | Request for information regarding Time Off In Lieu (TOIL) | Some information sent but not all held |
| A request was made to the Isle of Man Department of Health and Social Care for data on employee numbers and Time Off In Lieu (TOIL) policies and balances. The authority disclosed full-time and part-time employee counts and the TOIL policy but refused to provide specific data on TOIL balances and accrual times due to the cost of collating information. | ||
| 2020-09-14 | Information as regards transgender patients, costs, and healthcare | Some information sent but not all held |
| A request for data on transgender healthcare services, costs, and patient numbers on the Isle of Man was partially fulfilled, with the Department of Health and Social Care disclosing that no on-island treatment is currently available while citing exemptions for missing data on specific costs and historical records. | ||
| 2020-08-13 | Cases of Unauthorised access to patients' at Noble's Hospital | Some information sent but not all held |
| A request was made to the Isle of Man Department of Health and Social Care regarding unauthorized access to patient data at Noble's Hospital over the past five years. The authority disclosed that two employees accessed data without entitlement but confirmed no dismissals occurred, while refusing to provide a breakdown of staff roles due to lack of held information. | ||
| 2020-08-10 | Independent Review Body ("IRB") - Healthcare Complaints | Some information sent but not all held |
| A request was made for details regarding the Independent Review Body (IRB) for healthcare complaints, including staffing, costs, reports, and procedures. The Department of Health and Social Care disclosed the number of convenors and staff but refused to provide salary and expense details, citing that the information would need to be created or derived. | ||
| 2020-08-03 | Secondary Cancer | Some information sent but not all held |
| A request was made for the number of Isle of Man residents with secondary cancer and details on medical responsibility; the authority disclosed care pathways but refused to provide statistics as the data is not routinely held. | ||
| 2020-07-28 | Radiology department guidelines - 2012 to now | Some information sent but not all held |
| The requester asked for specific written guidelines governing MRI referrals and refusals at the Nobles Radiology department from 2012 to present. The Department of Health and Social Care explained the current vetting process and referral criteria but refused to provide historical written guidelines, stating they do not hold them as practice follows general medical standards. | ||
| 2020-07-27 | Condition Survey - Abbotswood Nursing Home | Some information sent but not all held |
| The requester sought details regarding the commissioning, brief, notes, and distribution of a condition survey for Abbotswood Nursing Home. The Department of Health and Social Care disclosed that the survey was verbally commissioned by the Deputy Chief Executive (Governance) on 22 April 2020 but withheld the original brief and notes as they are held by the Department of Infrastructure. | ||
| 2020-07-27 | Abbotswood - Procedural framework for a Safeguarding response | Some information sent but not all held |
| The requester sought minutes, notes, and updated versions of a safeguarding framework for Abbotswood approved by the DHSC Executive Team. The authority disclosed the meeting minutes and notes but withheld the updated document citing exemptions related to ongoing criminal investigations. | ||
| 2020-07-24 | Conduct of Investigations - Training | Some information sent but not all held |
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