Department of Health and Social Care
644 FOI requests | Full disclosure rate: 27.6%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-03-12 | Expol's investigation into Abbotswood *REDACTED* | Upheld - partial |
| The requester sought the full Expol investigation report regarding a 2020 Covid outbreak at Abbotswood, but the Department of Health and Social Care failed to respond within statutory timeframes and applied exemptions incorrectly. | ||
| 2024-03-06 | Cost of Public Health report on fluoridating tap water | Information not held |
| 2024-03-01 | Health Minister Correspondence | Some information sent but not all held |
| 2024-02-29 | Doctors Practices | Information not held |
| 2024-02-29 | Patient Transfer | Information not held |
| 2024-02-28 | Out of work/work related benefits. | Information not held |
| 2024-02-27 | Manx State Pension | Information not held |
| 2024-02-27 | Children's Services Improvement Board | All information sent |
| 2024-02-13 | Roads, footpaths and car park infrastructure on the hospital site . | All information sent |
| 2024-02-12 | CBPM users | Information not held |
| 2024-02-08 | Moderna bivalent COVID vaccine - 2022 Autumn rollout | Some information sent but part exempt |
| 2024-02-06 | testosterone | Information not held |
| 2024-02-06 | Inspection of Nursery Schools and Kindergartens | All information sent |
| 2024-02-06 | staff sickness | All information sent |
| 2024-01-31 | Incidence of Glioblastoma on IOM over the last 7 years | Information not held |
| 2024-01-24 | CHAMs | Information not held |
| 2024-01-18 | Call Recording | Information not held |
| 2024-01-16 | Benefits wrongly paid/claimed since 2020 | Information not held |
| 2024-01-05 | Information regarding Braddan leisure centre development | All information sent |
| 2024-01-04 | Use of the hospital roads by Braddan Commissioners | All information sent |
| 2023-12-27 | Information held against myself | Information not held |
| 2023-12-20 | Hourly fee charged by the AG | Some information sent but not all held |
| 2023-12-19 | CEO policy, strategy, contract/subcontract without employment rights | Information not held |
| 2023-12-13 | AAC & EC | Information not held |
| 2023-11-21 | Assisted Dying - impact and risk assessment | Information not held |
| 2023-11-14 | Level 5 UCM degree research project. | Information not held |
| 2023-11-09 | Endometriosis statistics | Information not held |
| 2023-11-03 | FOI request re Manx Care management structure | Information not held |
| 2023-10-04 | Unclaimed Manx Residents in U.K. | Information not held |
| 2023-10-03 | Cardiology consultant | Information not held |
| 2023-10-02 | Yell card data, who reviewed it | Some information sent but not all held |
| 2023-10-02 | Cardiology referals | Information not held |
| 2023-10-02 | Allergies | Information not held |
| 2023-10-02 | Rheumatology | Some information sent but not all held |
| 2023-09-27 | Day Procedure Waiting Lists. | Information not held |
| 2023-09-21 | Indemnity documents relating to the covid-19 vaccine rollout | Some information sent but part exempt |
| 2023-09-11 | Request for Number of People Prescribed Ustekinumab under Manx Care | Information not held |
| 2023-08-31 | PCR tests for covid | Some information sent but not all held |
| 2023-08-30 | Learning Disability Strategy 2020 | Information not held |
| 2023-08-29 | Any Proof of Existence of Claimed 'HPV' - Human Papilloma Virus | Information not held |
| 2023-08-29 | Certification of PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) as a Proven 'Test' | Information not held |
| 2023-08-29 | All Cause Mortality 2018 to 2023 | Information not held |
| 2023-08-23 | Health Services Consultative Committee (HSCC) role change by DHSC | No information sent - all held but exempt |
| 2023-08-16 | Update on legal costs incurred at tribunal | All information sent |
| 2023-08-15 | CBPM Patients, Prescriptions & Imports | Some information sent but not all held |
| 2023-08-11 | Gas unit price | Information not 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. | ||
| 2023-07-27 | Cost of running IOM Secure unit for juveniles. | Information not held |
| 2023-07-25 | Minister Hooper and his Twitter account | Upheld - partial |
| 2023-07-19 | Cost of legal action vs. Mr Paul Moulton, Isle of Man TV to date | Some information sent but not all held |