Isle of Man Government promise to publish waiting lists

The Isle of Man government has committed to publishing regular updates of hospital waiting lists.

The bid for transparency is expected to come into force in the new year.

It is thought the information will be available on the government website, once the health department has mastered the required technology.

Ramsey MHK Leonard Singer said: "It is important the people of the island are made aware of why the waiting lists at Noble's Hospital are getting so long".

He added: "Monthly figures will show if the department is actually working to get these waiting lists down - the Isle of Man population has not been increasing that much and we have quite a large number of specialists, so we need to know why are people having to wait so long."

Although the current average hospital waiting time is 11 weeks, it was revealed in the October sitting of Tynwald that some people were having to wait for more than two years for a specialist appointment.

Health Minister David Anderson said: "In addressing our unacceptable waiting times, I think that we have to accept that in many cases we have simply too much demand placed on our limited resources and that there is no easy answer."

A review of the demands made on the health service is being carried out by the government.